Light and Shadow
by h4lfpr1nce
Summary: Kurt has moved to Dalton Academy, but it has so much less personality than McKinley. He misses Mercedes, and the 'girl talk' they used to have. There are somethings that he just can't say to Blaine. Will his prayers for a new friend be answered?
1. The Music

**Hi, this is my second fanfic ever, and my first one i've published. Constructive criticism welcomed, but try not to kill me too badly. I hope my OC is ok, character development isn't exactly my strong point... I will upload more chapters eventually- I have 2 more written and ideas for the next one. I might change the rating to M later If I decide to write in somthing fun.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee or it's characters. If I did it would be on every day and be all about Kurt. It would also have him making out with Blaine by now :)**

It was the first week of school after winter break and Kurt, as he usually did whenever he escaped from the near-constant whirl of thoughts about Dalton and homework (the AMMOUNT they gave at this school) and the Warblers, was thinking about his crush.

Blaine.

Sadly, thinking about him often brought Kurt back to his less wanted contemplations, since thoughts of Blaine often coincided with thoughts of the school.

_Blaine is top at everything, isn't he? He's set to be valedictorian, he's captain of the fencing team and the debate team, he's the fastest one on the swim team, he's the lead singer of the Warblers, and he's the best mentor (well, the only one, but still…) I've ever had! I'd bet he's even the "top" during…._

Kurt blushed and chuckled at where his thoughts had headed with this last comment. He wished he had someone to share it with. God, he missed Mercedes. They were always together and could tell each other anything.

He didn't have anyone like that here. Wes and David, Blaine's friends, we extraordinarily nice and Kurt thought he would get along well with them in the future, but it wasn't the same. He needed some girl talk, no matter how gay that sounded.

And Blaine, though he was gay, wasn't exactly the 'girl talk' type, nor was the mentor EVER going to hear about the inappropriate thought Kurt just needed to share with someone.

Kurt was distracted from his reverie about being able to see Mercedes by a clear and beautiful tenor voice coming from an empty classroom.

Kurt was entranced by that spectacular tone, and how high it reached, all the way up to D5, close to his own upper range. Kurt thought it was an amazing voice. It had a great range and also a beautiful tone; extremely warm and dark and inviting.

_Not that he could beat me, _Kurt thought a little smugly- he had been carefully training and perfecting both his pitch and tone since an early age.

He walked towards the sound, and as he got closer he could hear piano music underneath the singing. He vaguely recognized to tune to one of the many classical pieces his mother had loved to play around the house before she died. The voice was not singing any particular words; it was simply following the melody.

Kurt looked in to discover the outline of a slight boy moving his fingers swiftly along the keys. They looked as though they were dancing, causing Kurt to begin breathing faster with excitement and amazement. He did not know when he had begun singing along to the long-forgotten tune. Suddenly, his voice swelled loud enough that the other boy could hear, and Kurt saw the outline jump and the music stopped.

"Sorry for disturbing you," he called out to the shadow, "It was just so beautiful I had to stop and listen, and without knowing, I…"

"It's quite alright," the shadow said with a whimsical, lilting voice with a slight yet very appealing British accent. It moved closer and Kurt began to make out the boy's features.

Kurt was instantly smitten.

No, he didn't fall in love at first sight with the boy. Slight wasn't his type anyway- he preferred people with slightly more muscle. It was more like a kid with a brand new toy that he wasn't going to share with ANYONE.

The boy was beautiful. All Kurt wanted to do at that moment was drag him to his closet full of now near-useless designer clothes and DRESS HIM UP.

He had natural honey-blonde hair with incredible highlights and lowlights, merry eyes with a deep blue tint, and a very slight healthy tan that made his skin look like it was smooth and silky and satiny and made him want to touch it and….

_Whoa, Kurt. Cool it. Plenty of time to dress him up or ask him what he uses on his skin and where in the world he got his fantastic hair from. After you introduce yourself. If you randomly start TOUCHING him, he will think you are a creeper-pervert and avoid you will NEVER get to dress him up._

"Hi. My name is Kurt Hummel." He said with his best diva smile. He held out his hand to shake.

"I'm well aware… you ARE a part of the Warblers, and they are… how did Blaine describe it again? 'like rock stars.' My name is Lucian." The boy had a charming and mischievous smile that seemed to never leave his face.

Had Lucian been there? Surely Kurt would have noticed him. Then again maybe not… He had been thinking about 'putting his hands on Blaine in his skintight jeans' and had been distracted from noticing other people.

"I stay five doors down from you. I suppose we'll be seeing quite a lot of each other, being in the same grade and all. I didn't get back from the little skiing vacation my parents took me on until yesterday, so we haven't met before. Feel free to visit my room any time.

"Oh! And before you ask- yes, I am gay, too. And you seem to have a bit of a crush on your 'mentor,' I hear. Perhaps I can help?"

Kurt was distracted by thoughts of Blaine and puzzling over Lucian's uncanny knowledge both of the school happenings- even though he was away- and Kurt's own mind. He barely noticed the boy was walking away until he was almost at the end of the corridor.

"Oh crap! Lucian!" Kurt said to, almost to himself, and then yelled, "LUCE!"

Lucian turned around in surprise.

"Is… tonight after dinner ok?" Kurt asked tentatively with just a slight hint of desire in his voice. He would get to see Lucian's skin care regimen!

"Sure!" Lucian shouted back, "By the way… about the 'Luce' thing… I like it!"

He disappeared around the corner, leaving Kurt feeling as though he had just met someone very important. He had, though he would only find out later exactly how important Lucian was… to both him and Dalton.


	2. A Little Green Monster

**Ok- second chapter- hopefully it's good *crosses fingers* I have the third one written so I have to type it with my absurdly bad typing skills and upload it at some point. I should probably do the same with my first fanfic I ever wrote, a yaoi CielxSebby fanfic based on Kuroshitsuji, which is only my favorite anime and second favorite manga ever (my first is what my username is based on- 1/2 Prince- read it NOW). I wrote it in the middle of Spanish. Not sure what I would have done if my teacher or anyone had picked it up and started reading it...**

Blaine was well aware that his face lit up every time Kurt walked into the room. He was SO ready to be out of the mentor job and into a more intimate… in all senses of the word… relationship.

Kurt, however, seemed to be rather less aware of the fact. Blaine planned to keep it that way, too, until Kurt was ready to notice. He knew from personal experience that situations like the volatile one Kurt had left at McKinley were hard to move past.

Therefore, despite the incessant urgings of Wes and David, he would not 'Hurry up and jump Kurt's bones' or any of the other crass things they had mentioned to him. He loved them, but sometimes he wanted to slightly maim them… only a little wouldn't hurt, right?

He was firmly decided on staying Kurt's mentor and friend until he got used to Dalton. Whatever Kurt needed, Blaine would be there for him, whether it was a shoulder to cry on or… he shuddered to think why this condition would apply… a sex-talk and condoms.

Just then Kurt walked into the dining hall, just in time to alleviate the foul mood that was gripping Blaine because of this last thought. He saw the utterly adorable boy flash him a smile when he noticed Blaine's eyes on him. He watched with unbridled hopefulness as the boy grabbed his choice of dinner; he had kept the chair next to him open every single night for the singular purpose of being able to sit next to Kurt.

_He's coming he's coming he's coming he's coming he's… wait. Where is he going? What the hell? LUCIAN? How did he…. What is going on here?_ Blaine's thoughts rambled to try and make sense of what he was seeing.

Blaine barely ever saw Lucian, and he had been in this school for much longer than Kurt. How the hell did Kurt meet him? Blaine didn't even know Lucian was back from whatever vacation he had been on this time. He hardly ever sat in the dining hall and didn't have many friends, so no one was sitting near him. Despite not being on good terms with any of the boys at this school, Lucian seemed to know an uncanny amount about each of them.

Kurt walked slowly towards the near-empty table and sat down directly across from the boy. Lucian flashed Kurt a devastatingly beautiful smile, the likes of which Blaine had never seen on his face before. Lucian usually looked as though he didn't care about anything. Kurt returned with a happy smile, and Blaine experienced a pain he had never felt before, somewhere in his left chest cavity.

"Hey, Luce," Kurt said, rather loudly given the fact that the dining hall was almost silent. All the people in it were shocked by Lucian's appearance, and perhaps even more so by the fact that Kurt, the transfer student well known only for his acceptance into the Warblers, seemed close to the normally aloof boy.

_Luce? A pet name? What IS that?_ Blaine's thoughts were going cloudy in a red haze of anger. His heart kept dropping and the haze worsened throughout dinner, as loud, pealing laughter issued from where the two boys who apparently got along extraordinarily well were sitting.

"You're joking! You must be!"

Blaine's teeth ground together as Lucian's exclaimations reached his ears for what had to be the 100th time during the last 30 minutes.

_What could Kurt possibly be telling him that would make him laugh so hard? _Blaine thought angrily to himself.

_And why, goddamnit, hasn't Kurt mentioned any of these highly entertaining stories to ME?_

If jealousy was green, Blaine would be painted head to toe right now.

* * *

It started with a simple question.

"What was your old school like?"

Kurt hadn't ever been asked that before. Blaine already knew and no one else seemed to care. _That was weird, right? Normally everyone pounces on the new kid trying to find out more about them, right? That's how it was at McKinley, _Kurt reminisced for a moment about the first day Sam came and how everyone, including himself, wanted to know everything about him. Well, Kurt mostly wanted to know if Sam was gay or not, but still…

The question had started him thinking about all his old friends (especially Mercedes) and the antics they had performed together. He suddenly missed them so much he felt like he was about to cry. Instead of spilled tears, however, stories began spilling from his mouth in a nonstop wave.

"… And then the librarian asked us to perform at her church!" Kurt said, laughing and in fresh disbelief though he knew the story was true. He still couldn't quite accept the reality of that situation; it seemed too odd to be true. He and Lucian had both dissolved into laughter at the end of it.

"Oh and get this! Back when I was still 'in the closet,' though apparently not really, since my dad knew I was gay since I was three, Mercedes asked me out!" Kurt said incredulously, "She thought I liked Rachel! RACHEL! And when I was trying to hide it from my dad I was forced due to extenuating circumstances to join the football team. Damn good at it, too, if I had my Beyonc é to warm me up. Only game we won all season," God, it felt so good to finally have someone to tell all this to, and Luce seemed to really be enjoying listening.

"So you were a Glee Club member AND a football player?" Luce asked with interest.

"Well actually I was a cheerleader for a bit too. I guess I was quite well rounded," Kurt chuckled and Luce joined in with a jovial laugh.

"So…" Luce started, as though he knew what he was about to ask would be a difficult question for Kurt, "why did you leave? It just seems like you had a lot of fun at you old school."

Of course it did. Kurt hadn't gotten to the name calling, throwing into dumpsters, slamming against lockers, and KISSING AND THREATENING HIS LIFE. He shivered at the thought of the incident, _Maybe it will be good to tell someone again, even if I don't really want to remember…_

Kurt suddenly became aware of the multiple people around him and Luce, though at a slight distance away. They were all intently eavesdropping and paying much more attention to Kurt and his history than any of them had before. He leaned in close to Luce's ear.

"I'll tell you in your room later. Blaine, Wes, and David already know, Blaine more so than the others, but letting everyone else…" He said as he glanced furtively around him at the other boys. He didn't think they would particularly care about his story any more than they had cared about him before, but he wasn't sure he wanted the whole school to know.

He didn't see the flash of anger on Blaine's already dark face as he and Luce leaned closer to each other.

**Umm... I hope you liked it... reviews please?**


	3. Feathers

**I guess I was just feeling kinda verbose when I wrote this. I used luts of adjectives. I hope it's good anyway. Enjoy :)**

Kurt could barely contain the excitement he felt at the thought of going to Luce's room, though the fact that he would have to remember the incident dampened his sunshiny spirits a bit. He was extremely curious about the mysterious boy, and wanted to know all about him. Actually, he mostly wanted to know about Luce's skin and hair care method and see if his wardrobe was ok or tragic like Rachel's practical zoo of a collection of animal sweaters. He almost hoped it was the latter, though he might faint if he saw something as horrendous as an animal sweater. As soon as he had met Luce, Kurt had been harboring a wish to dress up the adorable boy like a life-sized doll.

He knocked with a slightly trembling hand.

"Come in," A lucid voice chimed from behind the heavy wooden door that graced all Dalton dorm rooms. _That boy should really join the Warblers,_ Kurt thought as he pulled the aforementioned taxing slab of mahogany open.

Luce was lying on his perfectly made bed with a MacBook open on his stomach, "I'll only be a second… feel free to look around."

It was what Kurt had been waiting for all day. First he walked, quite slowly considering he wanted to sprint, to Luce's closet and threw it open and… Stopped. Dead. His jaw dropped in amazement as he took in the contents. He felt a slight surge of disappointment: he would not be able to fulfill his secret dream of dressing Luce up. He appeared to do quite fine by himself; Kurt found himself staring at the largest and most beautiful expanse of men's clothing he had ever seen. It looked like it cost more than his dad's and Carole's new home.

"Can I… borrow some of these sometime?" Kurt tentatively asked.

"Sure," Luce replied. Kurt felt as though he had won the lottery- things didn't get much better than a new friend with lots of clothes who is almost the same size as you (albeit one and a half inches shorter).

Kurt recomposed himself and moved on to the bathroom.

It was very much like the closet, in that it was filled with excessive amounts of things with an excessive amount of designer labels that cost excessive quantities of money. Kurt loved it. Now he knew the secrets to Luce's perfect skin and hair. He also knew Luce had to be LOADED to have all that. Most of the students were, but he had never seen it put to such good use before.

He was about to ask to borrow these too when Luce yelled, "Done!" from the other room.

Kurt reentered the main part of the dorm room and commented on the clothes and beauty products, "Nice collection, parents own a fashion company or something?"

"Not quite," Luce replied cryptically with a mysterious smile on his face

"And now," Luce said, switching to an uncharacteristically serious expression, "The reason you are here at Dalton."

Kurt sighed, brought down from his designer-clothes-induced intoxicated state, and began, "At my old school, there was a football player named Dave Karofsky…"

Luce listened attentively to the tale, sometimes gasping in shock or horror at some of the details Kurt shared, or rubbing his arm in comfort when he began shaking at the memory of Dave's finger pressed against his chest. When Kurt finished, they just sat in a somber silence for a while.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that, Kurt," Luce said at last, "and I'm sorry that it forced you away from the friends you loved so much. I will do my best to replace them at least a little."

"Thank you," Kurt's thoughts of Mercedes and the others, and the prospect of spending time with his newly acquired companion, drew Kurt out of his sullen mood and he decided it was HIS turn to ask Luce a question.

"So…. Got a crush on anyone here, Luce?" He said playfully. Luce, much to Kurt's surprise, proceeded to blush bright red and shake his head.

"Come on, you can tell me!"

"W-Wes," Luce barely managed to stammer out, looking down as his face turned an even deeper shade of red, "but he has a girlfriend, so…."

"Been there, done that," Kurt said, making both him and Luce laugh. Finn and Sam had been included in his stories earlier.

"Well," Luce said, getting over his momentary adorable nervousness, "we all know who YOU like now, with the exception of the person in question of course!"

Kurt flushed just a little and threw a pillow at Luce, catching the boy square in the face. Luce retaliated and then it was on, escalating into a full-blown, epic pillow fight.

* * *

Kurt had been in that room FOREVER. What could those two be doing in there with the door closed? His mind was blurring with horrendous possibilities as he paced up and down the hallway.

Suddenly he heard a loud shriek from inside the room, followed by copious amounts of giggling. That was it; he couldn't take anymore.

As Blaine burst through the door, his eyes widened to take in the state of the room before him. The two other boys were standing in opposite corners of the room, heaving deep breaths underneath their Dalton blazers. They both wore brilliant mischievous smiles, though in Blaine's infinitely cuter. It was coupled with slightly mussed hair and a light sheen of sweat on Kurt's forehead that reminded Blaine of some of the fantasies he's had about him. The very first thing he notices, however, was that the room was absolutely COVERED in feathers. Each boy held on to an almost empty pillow.

"Hey, Blaine, what's up?" Kurt asked nonchalantly, as though it was perfectly normal for him to be standing against the wall with feathers in his hair. He was still breathing heavily, and his breathless voice sent a shiver of excitement down Blaine's spine.

Blaine tried for composure and, barely grasping at it, said, "I heard a scream, so I was just coming to check in you to make sure…" He trailed off, hoping that his words didn't sound too… overprotective for a mentor.

He watched in confusion as Lucian threw a lusty wink in Kurt's direction and Kurt, turning slightly red, began to sock Lucian with what remained of his pillow.

Kurt's gaze alighted on Blaine or, more specifically, on the Warblers pin adorning his blazer.

"The Warblers!" he exclaimed excitedly, looking at Lucian, "Luce you can join the Warblers! All you need for an audition is another Warbler's recommendation!"

"What are you talking about, I can't–" Lucian exclaimed.

"Oh yes you can, I heard you sing earlier in the-" He stopped and suddenly acquired a mischievous smile that Blaine thought needed to be made illegal and his voice took on a slight lilting tone, "An oh-so-special-someone who you might want to see a bit more often will be there too."

Kurt was the one who threw the lusty wink this time.

"That would be awesome! I wonder if my grandfather will let me, I must go ask him." Lucian's voice stopped as he became lost, presumably in thoughts of how to get his grandfather to agree to him joining the Warblers.

Blaine for one was extremely perplexed. What the hell did Lucian's grandfather have to do with anything? Judging by the look of confusion fading from Kurt's face, he had no idea what the grandfather thing was about either. And who was the person Luce wanted to spend more time with?

_At least I don't have to worry about them doing anything anymore, _He could clearly see that their relationship was a close and platonic, if very sudden, friendship. Even clouded with jealousy, his mind could not ignore the fact that Lucian likes someone else and Kurt was not bothered at all by it.

Now that he thought about it, Kurt seemed to be into the jock type, judging by his previous crushes. Blaine didn't know if the Karofsky incident had changed that, but he assumed it hadn't. His momentary happiness at the fact that Kurt wasn't involved with Lucian subsided and was replaced by sadness. Though he was a good swimmer, Blaine was very far from Kurt's preferred 'jock' type.

An awkward silence ensued until Blaine worked up the courage to break it, "So… a pillow fight? What for?"

Kurt blushed furiously and Lucian began laughing madly, leaving Blaine even more confused than he had been before.


	4. Visitors

**Ok- I hope this chapter is good as well! I appreciate the warm fuzzies and hope for more of them/ some constructive criticism, please.**

"So, your boyfriend has another man. He's even wearing his clothes," Wes commented to Blaine over breakfast the next day. It was Saturday and students were allowed to go home if they wished, but the Warblers had a meeting scheduled to select songs for Regionals so they were all required to stay. They were, however, allowed to wear their own clothes on the weekends.

Blaine Glanced over at Kurt and Luce sitting a little ways down the table and chatting animatedly. They were both decked out in the most fashionable clothes he had ever seen. Blaine thought that Kurt was wearing one of Lucian's scarves. (Kurt had made use of Lucian's fantastic wardrobe that day, though Blaine was not aware of the promise made the previous night). Even so, it didn't bother him.

"They're just friends." He said confidently. He was still a little sad, though. Kurt never talked like that with him.

Kurt noticed Blaine's gaze and waved with long, delicate fingers, causing Blaine's heart to skip a beat. Blaine beckoned Kurt with a finger and pointed at the empty space beside him. Kurt then nudged Luce and muttered something that made the other boy blush profusely.

Kurt and Lucian moved down and sat across from each other, Kurt beside Blaine and Lucian beside Wes. Blaine was still wary of Lucian, probably out of jealousy, but made an effort to participate in their conversation.

They were talking about clothes, and if Blaine was slightly out of his league, Wes and David were completely lost. They were just too different from Kurt and Luce to be close friends with them. When Kurt had first moved to Dalton they made an effort, and they clearly liked the boy, but they just couldn't keep up with some of his hobbies and conversations.

Suddenly, Blaine felt the bench he and Kurt were sitting on vibrate. Kurt pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen to view a message.

_**Kurt, when are you getting your white ass back to Lima this weekend? We need to go shopping. –M**_

Blaine read the text over Kurt's shoulder.

_**Sorry Merce, the Warblers have a meeting. I would totally be there if I could. I have a new friend to bring with us too. –K**_

_**A friend or a 'friend'?-M**_

_**You'll find that out when you meet him! - K**_

_**Well, that had better be soon. I'm making it soon. PS Tell Blaine I said HI- M**_

_**K- K**_

Kurt looked over at Blaine and said, "Mercedes says hi," unaware that Blaine had read the entire set of messages already. He went back to conversing with Lucian about clothes.

"Luce! Mercedes wants to meet you! By the way did you read that article about…"

Blaine was left to ponder over that ambiguous response to "_**A friend or a 'friend?' **_" It almost made him doubt his earlier conviction.

_No. NO. They are just friends. Lucian likes someone else, _He managed to reassure himself through his thoughts.

* * *

Kurt was lounging around the common room reading _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ for what was possibly the fifth time. He May not have looked like it, but he loved books just as much as fashion magazines and the _Harry Potter _series was one of his favorites. Lucian was busy texting someone, though Kurt didn't know who since Luce didn't appear to have many other friends. He never talked to anyone besides Kurt and whoever Kurt was talking to, which really made Kurt wonder how the boy knew so goddamn much about the school and everyone in it.

He heard a slight commotion outside the door. He didn't know why so many people had decided to stay over the weekend this week, or why they had decided to make noise right outside the door while he was trying to read, but it was going to stop.

He had just slammed the book shut and gotten up to give someone a piece of his mind when the door burst open and he found himself tackled along with a squeal of, "KURRRTTTTTTTT!"

He pulled back from the insanely tight hug to look at who had just assaulted him. Mercedes beamed back at him. Behind her, stood Tina, his stepbrother Finn, and Rachel (who Finn had apparently forgiven because their arms were linked). He knew why there was so much commotion now. There were GIRLS in the dorm. Everyone HAD to freak out. He rolled his eyes.

"Hi guys. What are you doing here?" He asked Mercedes when she had finally let go of him completely.

"Well you said you couldn't come shopping, and I had to get my Kurt time in somehow," Mercedes said.

"By the way, I brought you a little something from home that you might have been missing. Finn, the package!" Finn looked startled and pulled out a hastily wrapped something. He had obviously wrapped it himself, and Kurt and Mercedes both sighed at the same time at the sight of it.

"He's hopeless, isn't he?" Kurt asked Mercedes as he took it. He opened it up to reveal his favorite Marc Jacobs cashmere plaid scarf with the purple and the brown that almost matched his hair color. He made a little excited shriek and hugged both Mercedes and Finn.

"You don't know how long I had to talk to him before he could pick out the right scarf from your closet. He seemed to have trouble distinguishing between plaid and checkered, and couldn't remember what shade your hair was. I was half afraid he was going to show up with your other brown and purple scarf." Mercedes and Kurt both laughed while Finn looked slightly indignant.

"They're very similar, ok!" He exclaimed. Kurt placated him with a "sure, sure" and then turned to Luce.

"Isn't this the most gorgeous scarf you've ever seen, Luce?"

Luce looked up from his texting, which was causing him to frown slightly, and his face brightened, "Oh! Marc Jacobs! Good choice!"

"Is this the new friend you told me about, Kurt?" asked Mercedes with a sly grin.

"Yeah." He said as she looked Luce over. He could tell she equated him to a friend and not a 'friend' because her grin changed to one of plain happiness rather than the sly one she had been wearing.

"Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Lucian." Mercedes squealed a bit at his British accent and hugged him too, catching Luce by surprise. He looked happy, though.

"I'm Mercedes," she said, "You take care of my boy and tell me if I need to come cut any of the other guys here."

"Will do," He replied.

"He's really cute," Mercedes commented to Kurt and he nodded in agreement.

They began conversing and covering all the things that had happened at McKinley since Kurt left, with the others throwing in comments periodically.

"…and Dave is extremely pissed that he was kicked off all the sports teams because he had in school suspension." Mercedes was telling him, "serves him right, though he should have been expelled."

Kurt was so caught up in the conversation and being around his friends that he didn't even notice Luce look down at his phone, assume a stricken look, and run out of the room about to burst out in tears.


	5. The Text

**So I know this is super short, but I hope you like it anyway. It really didn't feel right to add any more to this chapter.**

"So you're saying he CAN'T audition?" Kurt practically screamed at Wes and David when they told him, "Both Blaine and I recommended him! He has to be able to audition! What the hell!"

"Well, the school administration contacted us and said that Lucian wasn't allowed to join any extracurricular activities, including the Warblers." David tried to explain, looking rather taken aback at Kurt's outburst of anger. Even Blaine had to admit that Kurt's mad face was intimidating, "The chairman himself contacted us, Kurt! W can't do anything!"

Kurt let loose a growl of disgust and turned away from the shocked David, Wes, and Blaine. He looked as though he was about to leave the room and never return, leaving the Warblers without a counter-tenor and Blaine without a love interest. Blaine had to do something.

"Wait!" He yelled, "We can let him audition and see if he would even make it, then if he does he can talk to the chairman."

Kurt spun around and looked slightly happier as he returned to his seat. Blaine was glad he had averted the crisis. Every other warbler in the room still looked dazed from Kurt's outburst. The rest of the meeting went well, though he and Kurt were disappointed when Katy Perry and Lady Gaga were both vetoed as they suggested them.

* * *

Kurt was walking down the hall toward Luce's room, bouncing with happiness. He had managed to get Luce an audition, though the whole chairman thing was weird. You had to do something really bad to be banned from extracurricular activities, right?

As he got closer to Luce's room, he heard rather strange and extremely loud music coming from Luce's room. He opened the door to find the room completely dark with iPod speakers blaring.

…_**Schrei! Und wenn es das Letzte ist**_

_**Schrei! Auch wenn es weh tut**_

_**Schrei so laut du kannst**_

The song was only familiar to him because he had heard it in passing while trolling the internet to find songs to sing in Glee club. It was 'Schrei (Scream)' by Tokio Hotel.

Every thought about the audition and everything else flew out of Kurt's head, leaving only two questions. Why was Luce curled up in a ball on his bed in the dark? And WHY would he possibly be listening to German emo music?

Kurt went over to the speakers to turn the music off, and then went and sat beside the ball he assumed was Luce.

"Hey, Luce, what's wrong? What is it?" he said as he pulled back the covers with only a sob in response. What he saw made him gasp in shock. Lucian's upper body was covered with a plethora of big purple bruises and cuts, beneath which older scars from similar wounds were visible. _Who could have done this to Luce? Especially with the zero-tolerance bullying policy._ Kurt wondered as he regained his ability to think. Luce's eyes, glassy from many tears, were fixed on a lit-up cell phone screen. Kurt picked it up and was horrified again by what he read there.

_**From: Father**_

_**You fag! You want to join a bloody SINGING group now? Haven't you embarrassed out family enough? Come to my office in the next ten minutes or I will beat you to within an inch of your life!**_

It was dated from this morning when Kurt's friends had been visiting.


	6. Phil Collins

**I know I am updating like crazy, but my mind is all the way ahead in like chapter 10 or somthing (probably later at the rate I've been going) and I have to write all this stuff so I can make it to the other parts later that I really want to happen. Anyway, the song just jumped out at me as I was flipping through my iPod and I thought "Ohmigod! Perfect!" and then went with it.**

Kurt wasn't sure what to do.

He knew this had been going on for a long time but Luce hadn't mentioned it to anyone, so he probably didn't want anyone to know. At the same time, however, he was badly beaten and nonresponsive. He needed medical attention.

Kurt began flipping through the address book on his phone, searching frantically for the right person to tell. Blaine? No, he didn't know Luce that well, and Luce definitely didn't want this spread to anyone around school. If he had, he would have told them already. Luce's family? They had DONE this to him, at least his dad had. There was no way Kurt was going to ask them for help.

He had finally settled on calling his own father to ask for advice when a hand reached up from beside him and took the phone.

"Please don't…" Luce said in a harsh voice so different from his normal melodic one, "I'm fine... really… I don't… want anyone to know," Luce groaned as the little bit of movement caused his whole body to ache.

Kurt was stricken with worry over his friend's condition. He couldn't ignore Luce's wishes, but still… He decided that at the very least he needed to stay there with Luce to make sure he didn't have any problems. Luce had begun sobbing again, face pressed into his pillow, and the sobbing made his body ache more with each sucked-in breath causing him to moan in pain. Kurt couldn't bear to see him that way, knowing he could do nothing to help.

He suddenly recalled what his mom had done, back when she was alive, when he had growing pains or stubbed his toe as a child. He knew the severity of the physical and emotional pain was by no means even comparable. But he had to feel like he was doing something at least a little bit comforting or productive.

He removed his shoes and lay down in the bed next to Luce and wrapped his arms as carefully as possible around the boy's slight frame, "Shhhh… It'll be ok… Shhhhhhhh… It's ok, don't cry…" He whispered the meaningless comfort words that had helped him as a child. He could feel Luce's warm, tensed up body relax ever so slightly in his arms as he recalled what else his mom used to do with him. He opened his mouth and began singing quietly into Luce's ear:

_**Come stop your crying**_

_**It will be all right**_

_**Just take my hand**_

_**Hold it tight  
**_

_**I will protect you from**_

_**All around you**_

_**I will be here**_

_**Don't you cry  
**_

_**For one so small,**_

_**You seem so strong**_

_**My arms will hold you,**_

_**Keep you safe and warm**_

_**This bond between us**_

_**Can't be broken**_

_**I will be here**_

_**Don't you cry  
**_

_**'Cause you'll be in my heart**_

_**Yes, you'll be in my heart**_

_**From this day on**_

_**Now and forever more  
**_

_**You'll be in my heart**_

_**No matter what they say**_

_**You'll be here in my heart**_

_**Always  
**_

_**Why can't they understand**_

_**The way we feel**_

_**They just don't trust**_

_**What they can't explain**_

_**I know we're different but,**_

_**Deep inside us**_

_**We're not that different at all  
**_

_**And you'll be in my heart**_

_**Yes, you'll be in my heart**_

_**From this day on**_

_**Now and forever more  
**_

_**Don't listen to them**_

_**'Cause what do they know**_

_**We need each other,**_

_**To have, to hold**_

_**They'll see in time**_

_**I know  
**_

_**When destiny calls you**_

_**You must be strong**_

_**I may not be with you**_

_**But you've got to hold on**_

_**They'll see in time**_

_**I know**_

_**We'll show them together  
**_

_**'Cause you'll be in my heart**_

_**Yes, you'll be in my heart**_

_**From this day on,**_

_**Now and forever more  
**_

_**Oh, you'll be in my heart**_

_**No matter what they say**_

_**You'll be in my heart, always**_

_**Always**_

Throughout the song, Kurt had felt Luce's body relaxing against him. He looked now to find the other boy sound asleep. The song had made his own eyes droopy as well and he let them fall, drifting off slowly with his lips pressed against Luce's soft, honey- shaded hair.

* * *

Kurt was not at dinner, nor was Lucian. The latter was quite normal to Blaine. Lucian had always seemed unsociable to him, though that opinion had changed a bit judging by how well he got along with Kurt. The former, however, was very unusual and Blaine was rather… put out by both the fact that he was absent and the fact that it was possibly together with Lucian, who seemed to be monopolizing all of Kurt's free time.

He sat through dinner silently without even bothering to try and pay attention to whatever nonsense Wes and David were spouting. He resolved to go check on Kurt after dinner, who he had last seen bouncing off to go visit a certain aforementioned time-monopolizer.

He stood in front of Kurt's room and knocked, tapping his foot impatiently. When he received no reply, he knocked more loudly, thinking, _He couldn't possibly be asleep, could he? It's only eight and it's a Saturday._

He slowly opened the door to the room to find the light on but Kurt not inside. Judging by the Marc Jacobs scarf and other gifts from his friends earlier strewn across the bed in the exact same way they were when Blaine had picked Kurt up for the meeting, Kurt had not returned after he went bouncing off to visit Lucian.

Which left him one option for the next room to search.

He was much too impatient to find Kurt to bother knocking on this door. He simply opened it slightly and peered inside. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could see what was in front of him, he quickly shut it again.

He slumped to the floor with his head in his hands, feeling pain and disbelief from what he just saw.

Kurt was in Lucian's bed with Lucian curled up in his arms without a shirt on. The lights were off and both of them were sound asleep. And that confident voice in his head that had been telling him Kurt and Lucian were just friends was nowhere to be found, though he desperately needed to hear it right now.


	7. A False Smile

**I'm not sure it the ending on this chapter is good or not. Oh well, enjoy it anyway!**

Kurt awoke at approximately 10 the next morning. He squeezed his eyes shut against the rays of light that were waiting to ambush them. He was content to lie there half asleep until he realized something felt wrong. Wrong and different and foreign. He sat bolt upright and glanced around his room, disoriented.

Except it wasn't his room. It was Luce's. He saw Luce in the corner of the room in a beanbag chair typing something on his computer. Luce glanced up at him with a smile and said, "Good morning, sleepy head!" in an extremely cheery voice, though his eyes were slightly red.

"'Morning," Kurt muttered, still quite befuddled from sleeping. Why was he in Luce's room? As the grogginess left him, memories of the previous day and, and with them the answer to his question, came back to him. He suddenly felt a very odd combination of concerned and livid towards the same person, something that did not happen too often.

He was concerned about how Luce was feeling and whether anything had gotten worse and how often this happened.

He was livid at Luce because he was sitting over there typing and acting perfectly nonchalantly and refusing to tell anyone about this and especially not telling him.

"Luce! LUCE!" Kurt had to shout louder because he was ignored the first time. The boy finally looked up, "Do you feel ok?"

"Of course, I feel perfectly fine, why?" Luce asked with a perplexed expression on his face.

_Forget singer, the boy should be an actor,_ Kurt thought with chagrin. Was he really attempting to do this to him? Did he really think Kurt could be persuaded into thinking it was all just a weird dream or something? Not a chance.

"You know damn well why," He said in an accusing voice.

"I really don't-" Luce said as he got up and closed his laptop. He couldn't quite keep the wince of pain from his face as he did so, though.

"Don't screw with me." Kurt warned, "I remember and you remember and I really think you need to tell someone!"

"Tell someone? Who? My friends? That's only you Kurt, and you already know about it! My family? They watched silently as my father did this to me! He's always smacked me around since I was little, it just got a whole lot worse when I came out, or rather, was forced out, of the closet two years ago!" Luce's voice was increasing in volume and he was turning a little red.

"Tell the school or a doctor or SOMETHING, Luce! It will never stop if you don't tell someone about it!"

"School? Doctors? You really couldn't pick two worse people for me to tell. Let me tell you a little something about my family," Luce said with a bitter laugh, "My name is Lucian Dalton III. My family can trace its ancestry all the way back to a noble family in England, which was where I grew up though I was born in the States. It currently is in control the world's top pharmaceutical manufacturer, Dalton Pharma Services. Those doctors? They have their lips pressed so tight to my grandfather's ass that they'd rather bury me than say anything bad about my father."

Kurt was going to say something, but Luce didn't give him any time.

"In addition to that, my family dabbles in other areas, such as engineering and running elite private school so they can get other rich people to give them even more money than they already have. By that last one I'm sure you're aware that I'm talking about Dalton Academy. My father is the dean of this school and my grandfather is the chairman of the board of directors. No one at this school would be able to do a damn thing even if they knew. And father said- He said that-"

Luce's bitterly angry smile that Kurt had been taken aback by disappeared as the boy dissolved into tears once again. Kurt wasn't sure how Luce had anything left in his tear ducts after yesterday, but he managed to shed profuse amounts of tears all the same.

Luce collapsed on his knees before continuing his rant, "My father said… _sniffle…_ that he'd kill me if I told anyone! I know he could do it too, he almost has before…. _sob…_ He's hated me ever since I was forced to tell him I was gay, he said that I was an embarrassment to the family! Like it was my fault I was gay, like I could change it!"

Luce looked as though he was unable to speak any more without having a mental breakdown. He sat kneeling on the floor, with his fingers covering his face as the tears streamed down between them. His body shook with the heavy sobs that racked his body.

Kurt put aside his absolute disgust and abhorrence at what he had just heard and moved to comfort his friend. He wrapped his arms tenderly around Luce and let the boy cry into his shoulder, not even caring that there were tears all over his favorite and incredibly expensive Brunello Cucinelli purple cashmere v-neck sweater.

That was when Blaine walked in

* * *

Blaine was pacing outside of Lucian's room at 10:50 AM. He didn't want to go in there again, he didn't want to see anything else, but Kurt and Luce had both been absent from breakfast and there was a Warbler rehearsal in 10 minutes. A warbler rehearsal Kurt needed to attend because he was one of the people auditioning for leads, and that Lucian needed to attend because he was auditioning to join the Warblers, if he got the school's approval, that is.

_At least they'll be up by now right? They can't still be asleep; it's been over 14 hours… Please don't let me see them like that again; I don't think that I could take it, _Blaine thought before he turned the door handle and stepped into the room.

They weren't curled up on the bed in each other's arms like the scene Blaine had witnessed last night, but he thought that what he saw was almost as bad.

Kurt and Luce were sitting on the floor with their arms around each other and Luce was crying into Kurt's shoulder. Kurt looked up at him in surprise as he walked in.

Suddenly Blaine saw a red haze In front of his eyes and felt his hands ball into fists. He didn't know and didn't care why Lucian was crying; all he knew was that he was angry and Kurt was supposed to be HIS, not Lucian's.

"There's a Warbler rehearsal in ten minutes if either of you care," he said, knowing his voice sounded strange. He had no idea what expression was on his face either, though he was sure it wasn't pretty. It was all he could do to keep himself from hitting something.

"By the way, I don't care if you two are boyfriends or whatever, but at least you could lock the door," Blaine practically spat through his teeth as he turned to leave. He couldn't be in that room anymore.

Kurt's face assumed an expression that looked as though he had been stabbed through the heart, and his arm lifted in Blaine's direction. But his other arm was wrapped around Lucian.

He heard Kurt yelling, "Wait, it's not like-" as he ran out, but Blaine slammed the door before the sentence finished and ran down the hall to his room to collapse on his bed. No one followed him.

* * *

"- like that!" Kurt finished as he watched the door slam shut. The one person he didn't want to misunderstand his relationship with Luce just had. He fought his instinct to run after Blaine and explain, but he didn't move. He knew Luce needed him more than Kurt needed Blaine right now.

* * *

The Warblers sat in silence, waiting for the three missing people to arrive. After half an hour, Wes and David decided to go on with the meeting even though Blaine wasn't there, but the atmosphere felt wrong somehow. The Warblers began to realize just how much Blaine's and especially Kurt's personalities added to their group.


	8. When the Tears Stopped

**Ok, so I was bored and reading this Hevans fic that almost made me support that pairing (Sam/Kurt) even though I totally don't while simultaneously watching Lie To Me, which is a great show by the way, when BAM it hit me. Inspiration. I got an idea for the story that left me with a goofy grin on my face: the kind I get while reading somthing really aweosome or cute or that makes me laugh every other word. That kind of grin. So long story short, I now know what I am going to do for like the whole entire rest of this fanfic. Yay. **

**Anyway,**

**Enjoy :)**

Blaine immediately regretted what he had done. He lay on his bed, figuratively kicking himself over and over again.

_You idiot, you complete ass! He's not yours! You don't have any right to get angry at him over who he dates. Where did the person who was trying so hard to be a good mentor go?_ Though he was thinking that, he knew he couldn't bring that person back.

He had snapped. He'd lost control on his emotions and he knew there was no way of getting it back. Not while Kurt was with Lucian. Not while the memories of them intertwined on the bed or of Lucian crying into Kurt's arms were still fresh in his mind and burning him like a witch on a stake.

So he just lay there in self-loathing, knowing he couldn't change anything.

Wes and David knocked on his door, after the rehearsal, he presumed.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah, man, you skipped rehearsal and so did Kurt and Luce."

_Kurt and Luce_, hearing the two names together made him feel sick and angry, followed by another round of revulsion directed at himself and a faint trickle of sadness at what he had lost. He didn't even notice that the Warblers had adopted Kurt's name for Lucian.

"Go away; I don't want to talk about it!" He said, knowing the sadness and revulsion he felt were both present in his voice. It was true, what he had just said. But it was even truer that he couldn't bear for anyone to hear about this and hate him for it; he already hated himself enough, and Kurt probably hated him too.

He knew the other two would shy away from the emotion in voice. Sure enough, he heard Wes mumble something about, "Well, if you need us…" and drag David away. _You can always count on your friends when you need them,_ he thought with a dry sort of humor. He chuckled a little, but the sound was mirthless and almost more like a snivel.

* * *

Kurt didn't know how long he'd been holding Luce, but the boy's tears finally trickled out until there were none left.

"You should have… _sniff_… gone after him. Sorry about your sweater, by the way," Lucian said with his voice rough from crying. Kurt couldn't quite believe these were the first things that had come out of Luce's mouth.

"It's ok, and no I should not have," Kurt replied with a pointed look that was meant to convey: _You're more important to me. _Luce appeared to understand, because as he was getting up to sit properly instead of kneeling he uttered, "Thanks."

Kurt felt as though he was treading in shark-infested waters. He wanted and needed to say something, anything to Luce, but he didn't want to risk another explosion and meltdown like the one earlier. Finally, Kurt inwardly released a sigh of relief as Luce chose the topic of conversation.

"You may have heard that I didn't exactly have many friends before you got here, Kurt," Luce chuckled at his own understatement and sarcasm, "I didn't relate well to other people, since I felt they had no idea what I was going through, and I made no effort to look the least bit interested in anything, so it was partly my fault. However, my grandfather and father had told me not to get too friendly with the children at this school, since I would one day rule over them and their children. You see, I am supposed to become dean of the school after my father. So it's their fault too. They also gave me personal access to their information network that covers just about everyone in or that has ever been in this school."

Kurt finally understood how Luce knew so much about everyone without ever talking to them.

"I saw you first when you came to spy, badly I might add, and liked you as soon as I saw you. When you transferred here, your file contained a lot about your interests and a little bit, though not much, about what happened with that Karofsky kid at your old school. I thought you were really similar to me, and you could understand a little of what I'm going through. It was the first time in my life I ever wanted to be someone's friend.

"I thought that I wouldn't push it, knowing my family would disapprove of you even more than anyone else in the school because you were not in the same tax bracket. I decided that if the fates wanted us to be friends, they would make it so without me doing anything about it. Apparently they did.

"I was so happy when I heard someone singing with me and then saw that it was you. And we got along so well. It already seems like we've been friends for years instead of days. I just said I felt as though we are similar, but sometimes I feel as though we are completely different, foils of each other. You have everything that I want to have but don't. Accepting friends, a supportive family… I don't think I'll ever know what it feels like to have those," Luce finished with a sigh of defeat that squeezed at Kurt's heart.

"Well, for friends you have me, and…" He paused, knowing this might make Luce angry again, "I still think we need to do something about your family!" he held up a hand before Luce could voice the protest he was obviously about to begin, "You can't live in fear of them forever, Luce! It's not right! Even though my situation wasn't as bad, I didn't just do nothing! I moved, I escaped," Kurt gestured for Luce to proceed.

"I agree," Kurt was startled by Luce's acceptance, "But what can I do? Who can I tell, when it seems like the whole world supports my family? I just don't know how I could ever free myself from this."

Kurt and Luce sat in fruitless contemplation.

* * *

Neither Kurt nor Luce went to any of the other Warbler rehearsals after they had missed one. Kurt wasn't in the mood for singing; he could barely make it through all his classes without throwing something in frustration: They still didn't have any ideas. He assumed Blaine went; after all, he wasn't even aware that Blaine had missed the rehearsal on Sunday.

At breakfast on Friday, Kurt and Luce were sitting a few seats down from Blaine and the other Warblers who were happily chatting amongst themselves. Blaine had been refusing to look at Kurt, but today he sent a glance over. Kurt met his glance with a strained smile, but Blaine just turned his head away again. A little while later, Blaine got a call and was talking rather loudly to his mother.

"No, mom, I do not need to contact a news crew to cover my win at the fencing tournament. It's not that big a deal. Really. Ok. Love you. Bye."

A news crew. Kurt had almost forgotten Blaine was rich and had that kind of power. He suddenly remembered the black AMEX Centurion Card that had flashed several of the times they had met up, like when they went to eat with Mercedes or Blaine took him to see Rent. He also simultaneously recalled a sentence in one of the bullying books he had read after the whole Karofsky thing, "_A bully will often act out in aggression when confronted and blamed for his acts, which he knows to be wrong."_

Kurt developed an idea. A crazy, brilliant, dangerous idea which was likely to get him expelled and make Luce extremely mad at him if it worked, or get them both killed if it didn't. At least they would die together, and Kurt would feel like he had attempted something. He couldn't stop the smirk from spreading across his face like the Cheshire cat.

After breakfast, he went up to Blaine and said, "Can I ask you something?"

At first Blaine tried to turn away, but Kurt got in front of him again and employed all his looking-cute techniques, bouncing back on his heels and giving puppy dog eyes, "Please?"

Blaine sighed as though in resignation or defeat, and said, "Sure, what is it?"

Kurt knew he had won, and answered, "I really really really need you to do something super-important for me, will you?"

"Sure-" Kurt heard this and yelled "Thanks!" before running off to the Dean's office.

* * *

Blaine had been defeated by Kurt's adorableness once again. He was mad at the boy and himself just a few seconds ago, how did he end up agreeing to help him? He heard the "Thanks!" and saw Kurt dashing away, without telling him what he was supposed to be doing.

"Hey! What do you need me to do?" He yelled, afraid Kurt was too far away to hear him.

Kurt turned around and yelled, "I'll tell you if this works!" and then ran off again, leaving Blaine completely baffled.

_If what works?_


	9. Mission

**Ok, so I know this chapter is exceedingly short. I am truly sorry (not really). I just did it to mess with your heads and drag things out a bit longer. Kidding, kidding, don't kill me *covers head and expects to be hit*. This story will be plenty long enough without that. I am already planning sequels because you know what? happy endings are boring. So the reason this is a seperate chapter from other impending events is because it was longer than I planned on it being and I though that it wouldn't quite fit with the next chapter so I thought, what the hell, it'll be by itself. **

**Enjoy it anyway and leave me lots of reviews. They make me feel like I am eating fluffy whipped cream, and I am a monster who only eats whipped cream and other desert-ey types of junk food. Actually, throw me some healthy carrots and whatever in the form of criticism in there. They're good for my eyesight. :)**

Kurt had just realized he had no idea where the Dean's office was.

He had been there once, when he first transferred, but he had never been very good with directions and wasn't the type of student who misbehaved badly enough to go there often. He thought he had been overly-acquainted with the principal's office in McKinley even though he had only been there a few times, namely the Karofsky incident, the time when he got drunk thanks to the influence of a certain April Rhodes, and when his father had complained about Kurt not being considered for the solo in "Defying Gravity."

He still needed to get there to execute his plan though, and resolved to ask the next student he came upon. He pulled aside what appeared to be a freshman: he was significantly shorter than Kurt, which was easier to be after his three-inch growth spurt last year. From the way the freshman looked at him, Kurt could tell he saw nothing but the ostentatious Warbler badge still on his blazer though he had blatantly skipped the last few rehearsals. He could almost see the gears turning in the puny, trembling boy's head as the ones labeled "Warblers" and "rock star" lined up with and equal sign between them.

"Would you mind telling me where the Dean's office is?" Kurt said in a quiet voice so as to not scare the boy. Honestly, he had been at Dalton for over half a year already, longer than Kurt himself had, so what was he so afraid of?

The freshman managed not to shake any more than he already was, and replied in a mechanical voice, "You go to the end of the main hall and go up three flights of stairs on the left, and then you go straight down the hallway you end up facing without any turns and go through the door directly in front of you. The secretary will let you through to the Dean."

The boy said it as though he had heard those exact directions from teachers several times already, and was repeating them like he had them memorized. Kurt was just a little shocked; he wouldn't have pegged someone that nervous as a troublemaker.

_Never judge a book by its cover,_ Kurt thought, using the cliché expression that had always suited his life perfectly. People had been judging him by his looks, and later his fashion sense, from before he even knew he was different. If it applied to him, it applied equally or more so to his old Glee club. They were an eclectic but beautiful mix of personalities and social groups brought together by a common love for music and a need for acceptance, which they found in each other.

Kurt snapped himself out of his reverie involving fond memories of his old friends. He released the very relieved-looking student's shoulder and thought to himself, _Now is not the time for this. You are on a mission. I repeat, a mission._

He set off down the hallway at an expeditious pace, repeating the instructions over and over in his head to make sure he didn't forget them. He knew if anyone ever asked HIM how to find the Dean's office, he would sound just like that freshman he had encountered: Mechanic and monotonous. Oh well. The least he could do was to make sure a new Dean was sitting in it by the time someone asked him where to find the office.

He was on a mission.

**I oficially apologise for my odd metaphor above. It is late (early?) and I can't sleep.**


	10. Argument

**I'm scared- tell me how my argument scene turned out please! I'm really not sure I managed to make it realistic, but that was just the way it played out in my head, sorry!**

Kurt was right outside the door, but suddenly he was all nerves and second-guessing. Could he really do this? What if his plan didn't work and Luce had to pay for it? What if his plan did work, and he got blood on the extraordinarily expensive dry-clean only Dalton uniform? What if, either way, Luce hated him?

_Calm down. Calm. He will already hate you if he finds out you even thought about this, so you may as well do it. Besides, you promised yourself you would defend him to the death, and if the uniform gets blood on it you will have a welcome opportunity to wear something more fashionable to school._

He steeled himself with these thoughts and stepped into the brightly-lit room where the secretary sat absent-mindedly at her desk, hunched over and playing with a pen. She straightened up and adopted a concerned look on her face as Kurt entered, asking him, "Can I help you, sweetie?"

He had already applied his best Kurt-the-victim face before he went in, and answered with fake tears in his voice and in his eyes, "Yes, my name is Kurt Hummel and I need to speak to the Dean immediately about the zero-tolerance bullying policy," and then murmured, apparently to himself but loud enough for her to hear, "I really thought it would be better here…"

She immediately pressed the button to connect her to the other office and said, "A Kurt Hummel to speak to you, sir, about bullying."

There was a muffled reply back and the secretary turned to Kurt and stated, "You can go right on in sweetie." He smirked after he had walk past her, thinking that perhaps he should pride himself on his acting as well as singing skills. The statement was true in a way. He was there to speak to the Dean about bullying, just not about himself being bullied. He was there to reprimand a bully, and hopefully cause some more of it, though he never thought he would want to cause bullying at Dalton when he had transferred there to escape it. Oh well, he has a good reason.

XXXXX

The Dean was sitting at his desk looking very comfortable, very warm, very inviting. Kurt had been taken in by the farce when he had first set foot in this office, but he was no longer fooled. The man sitting there made Kurt feel sick, made the anger boil up in the pit of his stomach. He knew he wasn't going to need any help from acting with what he was about to do.

"Hey, Kurt, what can I do for you? Bullying problems?" The Dean said in a voice that Kurt could only think of as falsely cheery and concerned and absolutely revolting. It was when he nonchalantly took a sip from his coffee mug that the anger in Kurt's stomach boiled over and searched for a release. Those hands that were holding that mug or resting on the chair so innocently were the same ones that had hit Luce, hurt Luce, scarred Luce both physically and emotionally. For the last time.

Kurt started quietly, knowing that it would not end that way, "So you like hitting your son?"

The man spluttered, sending coffee everywhere, and rose up out of his chair at the accusation, "H-How did you-? Did Luce- ? He couldn't have!"

"I saw the bruises ALL OVER his body, and the scars from previous beatings. I forced him to tell me who it was from."

He saw the older man contemplate why Kurt had seen the all-over of his son's body and come to the false conclusion that many others had, that they were 'together'. He could see the man remembering that Kurt Hummel was, in fact, gay, and had transferred to Dalton for reasons pertaining to that. And he could see the slight sneer of derision that disfigured the man's lip as he replied, "You have no proof."

"Other than the bruises, you mean? No proof that they came from you? What about your son's testimony? Would that work?"

"I could tell them that his lover," The man practically spat the word at Kurt with disgust, "abused him and forced him to say it was me."

"That would require you telling the world that your one-and-only precious company-and-job-inheriting son was gay and had a lover."

The man went white and looked very scared for a second before regaining his composure slightly and raising his voice to say, "That fact will NEVER leave this room."

He grabbed Kurt's collar and brought him close to his face, attempting to intimidate him. Kurt knew he had the upper hand in this argument, but he still couldn't keep his own voice controlled any longer. He found himself shouting at the Dean.

"So you liked to hit your son! And then he told you he was gay and instead of the acceptance that EVERY parent should give his child like my dad gave me, all you gave him was disappointment and more abuse! You hit him more often, and harder! Because you didn't care that he NEEDED you! You didn't care that it wasn't something he CHOSE and that it was something he couldn't change! All you cared about was that your son was a FAG and an EMBARASSMENT and you hit him for it! ALL YOU CARE ABOUT IS YOUR DAMN IMAGE WHEN WHAT YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT IS YOUR SON, AND I ABSOLUTELY _HATE_ BASTARDS LIKE YOU!"

Kurt was breathing deeply as he finished his rant. His anger had been volatile enough to drive the man who had been holding his collar back several feet from where he had been standing. The man looked slightly shocked and Kurt was beginning to think his vehement lecture had had some affect on the Dean, but a smirk appeared on his face and Kurt knew it hadn't. He had been stupid to even consider that a man who could hit his own children would be changed by a _homo_'s lecture. The man strode closer to him looking cocky, but still remained further back than he had been earlier. Kurt felt a desire to punch the smile off the other man's face, but knew it would endanger his plan so refrained.

"What if I told you that I didn't care about anything you just said and that I can do whatever I damn well like with my son because he's my property and that he has NO right to be gay like you, you little Faggot!" With this the man got right into Kurt's face again, "What if I told you that you were going to leave this office like this whole conversation never happened, and go back to kissing whatever boys you want, my son excluded?"

"What if I told you I had this whole conversation recorded, and am going to use it to get your sorry ass thrown in jail when I convince your son to sue you?" Kurt almost startled himself with this bluff, but no one could have been as startled as the Dean. He turned even paler than earlier, then red, then pale again. He finally settled on red before, almost as though it acted on its own and was not controlled by the man, the fist swung towards his head.

He could have dodged it, maybe, or softened the blow with the cheerleading training he'd had, but he knew he couldn't do that this time. It was what he'd been waiting for; it was the reason he'd gotten him angry.

"_A bully will often act out in aggression when confronted and blamed for his acts, which he knows to be wrong."_

This bully had acted out in aggression, and Kurt was going to make him pay. He had heard a crunching sound and registered that his nose had been broken; he hoped it wouldn't permanently damage it, but what can you do? After the shock went away the pain arrived, but that couldn't stop Kurt from putting on a wide victory smile.

"I didn't actually," He said, and the man looked up from staring at his fist as though it had grown an extra thumb, "have the conversation recorded, that is."

He saw the Dean's face contort in anger, and held up a hand before he could acquire any more injuries. His voice took on a highly dangerous tone as he said, "You sir, have just hit a student. A gay student at your elite school with zero-tolerance bullying policies. And I assure you, everyone, especially all those elite people whose opinions you care so much about, will know about it very shortly."

Kurt ran out of the office and past a very shocked-looking secretary before the Dean had a chance to put on an expression besides the dumbfounded one Kurt had left him with. He had a promise to hold Blaine accountable to, and he had to try and find a way to explain to Luce that would not result in the boy getting angry and killing him or breaking down with fear. Or both.

He also thought he needed to do something about the pain; it was really starting to get to him. He'd leave the blood though. It would look pretty for the interview.


	11. A Call is Made

**Wow, this turned out long and I didn't even make it to the point I was going to stop at...**

**I figured it was enough just to do this at the beginning of the story, but I decided to do it again just for the fun of it:**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Glee or any of the caracters, sadly. I do, however, own Chris Colfer's ass and every single other part of him. (at least in my dreams it ends up working out that way 3)**

As Kurt was walking down the hall, the anger and vindication he had just released at full force on the Dean was slowly ebbing away from the pit of his stomach. Despite the pain he was feeling intensely right now, he felt relieved. It was as though every word he had refrained from yelling all these years had all built up inside of him and had finally been released at a worthy target.

All the thing he wanted to say to the boys who avoided him because they thought he was into them, the mothers who wouldn't let their children spend the night at his house when he was little and the other children didn't care so much about his appearance- the mothers who still wouldn't let their children come over when Finn invited them because he lived in the same house with the gay boy, and the bullies who always threw him into dumpsters- _especially _Karofsky who was in the closet himself but would rather terrify Kurt than admit it, he felt like he had directed all of those at the Dean. It felt good.

His nose was still bleeding, though not the giant spurt that it had been immediately after getting punched, and he was glad he had done this in the middle of classes. He didn't want everyone to see him in whatever state he was in (he was sure it was horrible) and he didn't run into anyone in the hallway like he would have after school let out. He was also fairly certain that once he came up with this plan, he couldn't have sat quietly through classes thinking about what could possibly be his impending demise.

It was also a bigger surprise if no one saw it to spread rumors around school. A bigger shock factor, if you will.

He reached his own room just as the anger almost completely disappeared- he was still extraordinarily mad at Luce's father for what he had done, but he had already vented this anger and the feeling was completely overwhelmed with a sense of self-righteous victory. The feeling left a smile on Kurt's face just as it had when he was first punched even though the very action of smiling brought tears to his eyes from the broken nose he was sure he had.

He opened the door and entered, careful not to drip any blood on the carpet. He almost laughed as he remembered the large red droplets staining the Dean's plush and probably expensive wool carpeting. He barely managed to refrain, knowing that the action would be rather painful in his current state.

He made his way to his bathroom in his room and dung through the semi-organized stacks of hair and beauty products he owned, trying to find his bottle of ibuprofen. His bathroom at home was bigger and could hold all of his merchandise more comfortably, and he didn't need the medicine often like he had back when he was getting shoved into lockers daily. He used to know exactly where it was.

As his fingertips met the cap of the bottle, he looked at his reflection with a mix of horror and pride. He had blood all over his face and Dalton blazer. His nose, thankfully, did not look misaligned though it was swollen to at least twice its normal, petite size. Both his nose and the skin around it were very red, and heavy, dark bruises were already forming under his eyes. The effect was rather gruesome.

He took two of the orange pills and washed them down with water, then attempted to restore his hair to its former, pre-confrontation glory. After about thirty minutes, he was entirely sure his nosebleed had stopped and the medicine had begun to take effect.

He looked in the mirror one more time before setting off on his way to Blaine's room to await the end of the school day and making use of the older boy's earlier promise. He had never been so happy to look so horrible.

Though he was in Blaine's room waiting for him, he didn't bother thinking about his upcoming conversation with its usual occupant- that was the easy part of his upcoming ordeal. The little bit of acting that he would have to do later was easy too, compared to dealing with Luce.

He thought about what he was going to say to Luce to convince him to tell the world about how his family had been treating him. He knew what he had done would get the Dean kicked out of his position and school at least, but Luce still had to tell his part for everything to work out. Otherwise he'd have to go home to that family and nothing would change, and the whole reason Kurt risked permanent facial deformity was to get that to change so Luce didn't have to ever deal with that again.

He needed to find the right words, the perfect words, and all his right words came from music. He went over to Blaine's iPod and speakers, hoping he wouldn't mind to terribly much if Kurt used them. He scrolled through the song list absentmindedly, surprised when his fingers decided to atop suddenly._ "I Did It for You" by David Cook, _Kurt read out in his mind. It could work. The title sounded promising enough, anyway. He pressed play and sat on the floor against the bedpost as the music filled the room.

_**Today's not the same **_

_**As every day **_

_**It's far from ordinary **_

_**The pain I endure **_

_**You're my cure **_

_**But my mistakes have led me **_

_**Far away from you...  
**_

_**You turn away **_

_**From all those things **_

_**That I've been trying to say **_

_**And all those promises **_

_**I shouldn't have made **_

_**I did it for you  
**_

_**My open mind **_

_**Feelings I just can't reconcile **_

_**My heart's on a string **_

_**These broken wings **_

_**You knew I'd be so fragile **_

_**Far away from you...  
**_

_**You turn away **_

_**From all those things **_

_**That I've been trying to say **_

_**And all those promises **_

_**I shouldn't have made **_

_**I did it for you  
**_

_**I searched my soul **_

_**And all these feelings **_

_**That I can't control **_

_**And you're the one thing **_

_**That can make me whole **_

_**I did it for you  
**_

_**Try to let you know **_

_**Try to let you know **_

_**Try to let you know...  
**_

Kurt leaned his head back against the bedpost and let the lyrics wash over him. The song contained so many of his feelings for both Luce and Blaine. No, he still didn't know exactly _what_ he was going to say, but he could feel it, just a little. He had a feeling that it would all come out right if he just tried and if he just remembered that he had done it all for Luce. He closed his slightly swollen, bruised eyes to let the music fill him more.

* * *

The conversation earlier that morning had left Blaine apprehensive; he didn't like that slightly manic look that had graced Kurt's fair blue eyes during it. He had been looking forward to some lucidity of the situation in AP French, his second period class, since it was the only one he shared with the grade-younger Kurt.

It had been hell sitting in that class for the past week, with both Kurt and Lucian together. He had felt like it was a situation designed solely to torture him and work away at his already-frayed self-control. He knew the presence of Lucian and his and Kurt's overtly friendly behavior to each other might send him spiraling back into the unjustified anger and self-loathing his shock earlier had snapped him out of, but he really needed to settle the growing unease he felt. He practically leapt out of his chair and made his way from first to second period faster than he had ever traversed the hallway before.

Only to find Kurt wasn't there.

He almost expected and dreaded Lucian's own absence in conjunction with Kurt's, so he was surprised to find that the slight boy who was practically attached to Kurt's hip was in class without him. He was even more surprised when Lucian approached him.

"Do you know where Kurt is? I haven't seen him since breakfast when he went off to talk to you. He wasn't in first period," The boy said with a worried frown.

"I actually was going to ask you the same thing. He ran off this morning saying something about needing a favor from me and a plan, but I don't know where he went," Blaine uttered cautiously, surprised being in such close proximity with the boy who he considered to have stolen his true love did not make him angry in the least. He was even more surprised at the boy's politeness- he had been a demon in Blaine's thoughts for the last few days and he had almost forgotten what Lucian really sounded like. Not that he had that many things to remember. Lucian had hardly spoken two words to anybody before Kurt arrived.

Lucian turned white at the mention of a plan, though Blaine had no idea why.

The fact that the person closest to Kurt didn't know where Kurt was increased the concern Blaine had felt since morning. His confusion and nervousness had risen to alarming levels, and he fretfully sat through French without paying attention to anything other than the clock.

As the period ended, he went to his third class briefly to say that he was feeling sick and then set off towards the dorms, determined to locate Kurt.

He checked in both Kurt's room, slightly messy with the lights on but devoid of any human life, and Lucian's, perfectly straight and tidy with the lights off and also as empty as the first. He was at a loss and wouldn't have even considered his room if he hadn't heard the music.

_**You're the one thing that can make me whole **_

_**I did it for you...**_

He opened his door just as the last lines of "I Did It for You" were playing, and called out, "Kurt?"

A happy voice, slightly nasally as though the owner had a stuffed nose, answered his with a "Blaine! I'm glad you're here! I thought I would have to wait all day."

Blaine walked in his room and fully expected to see Kurt's smiling face awaiting him. He was greeted with a smile, and it was Kurt's, but it was so far from what he was expecting that he gasped in shock.

"K-Kurt?" he asked again, as if to make sure it wasn't some blood-covered figment of his imagination and actually was the boy. When Kurt nodded, Blaine asked, "What the hell happened to you?"

"I was punched in the face by the Dean of this school," Kurt replied brusquely.

If it had been anyone else at any other time without the evidence all over his face, Blaine would never have believed it. He thought the Dean was a kind and laid-back man. Kurt's face showed no humor, however, and his voice rand of absolute matter-of-fact truth. The injuries spoke for themselves.

"How-?" Blaine started, silenced by the appearance of Kurt's smooth white hand.

"I'll tell you later. Right now I need the favor you promised me this morning. I need you to call me a news crew and the police, stat. The Dean of this school is evil. I am going to bring him down, and I am going to bring him down hard," Kurt asserted, scaring Blaine just a little with his ruthless smile and the fire in his eyes.

Blaine complied with Kurt's request, obligingly taking out his phone and flipping through his contacts as though it was normal to have news stations at your beck and call.


	12. Storytelling

**The longest chapter yet, but it covers about half of the details I wanted it to... *sigh***

Blaine finished the necessary calls, and turned to Kurt, stating, "They're coming, the police sooner than the news- they want a confirmation that the story is true before they send people out here. It might take a while- not only is Dalton forty-five away from Lima, it's over an hour away from everything else important."

Blaine vaguely worried about that comment making Kurt think his hometown had an unnecessary importance to Blaine, but decided Kurt wasn't paying enough attention to notice. Blaine decided to re-ask his previous question that had been cut off.

"How did you end up like this?" He said with a firm, demanding tone, gesturing at Kurt's swollen nose. He was getting his answer this time.

"I would give you the short version, but I think it would just confuse you more. I really need Luce's permission to tell you the longer version, though; it is his story to tell, after all," Blaine felt a hazy patch of jealousy flare up at the mention of Luce and shared secrets, but it was far outweighed by his exponentially increasing curiosity.

Kurt looked him over as if to assess his mentor's trustworthiness, which angered Blaine until he remembered he had been acting as neither a mentor nor a friend since that night when he slightly exploded at Kurt and Lucian. He instead became extraordinarily happy when Kurt apparently deemed him as still reliable.

"I will tell you, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone else. Luce doesn't want anyone else to know and I want him to be the one to tell people. It's going to be long, so prepare yourself," Kurt said, and Blaine promised that he would, wondering what this story could possibly be that Lucian didn't want anyone to know.

"We have a bit of time."

Kurt began with the very first time he met Lucian, how he heard the singing and the piano music and joined in, how Lucian had been absolutely adorable had greeted him with a mischievous smile, something Blaine had not seen on the usually sullen boy until Lucian had met Kurt. He talked about how he had shortened Lucian's name to "Luce" without thinking and the other boy had liked it. The story was all very cute and sweet and Blaine unquestionably did not want to hear it. He didn't want to hear from Kurt's own lips how he had fallen for a boy other than him. He was strangely captivated, though, and couldn't stop listening as Kurt continued on with his excitement at the thought of dressing "Luce" up.

He listened through Kurt's explanation of that night at dinner when Blaine had been so jealous; Kurt had kept coming up with new stories to make the adorable boy smile and release his infectious laugh. He listened as Kurt recounted his adventures and conversations in Luce's room, culminating with the pillow fight that Blaine had interrupted, though suspiciously leaving out what words had been said to begin the battle in the first place.

He listened and fidgeted anxiously. He knew somewhere soon in this story he was going to have to hear how Kurt realized that he was madly in love with Lucian, and it distressed him just thinking about it. He wanted to cover his ears, but he kept his hand safely in his lap, twiddling his thumbs. He still wanted to hear why this story was Lucian's to tell and why he didn't want the rest of the school to know it. Blaine had assumed at the beginning that it would be Lucian discovering that he was gay, but the boy had admitted that without hesitation to Kurt only minutes after they met, so he must have already known.

Kurt skimmed lightly over his friends' visit, noting only that Lucian must have run out at some point after being introduced. He was dangerously close to the point where Blaine saw the two cuddled up to each other on Lucian's bed, and his nerves were beginning to fray.

Kurt skipped to later that afternoon when he went to go see Lucian, beginning with his shock at the German emo music the blond boy had been blaring. The nervous anticipation that Blaine had expected to turn into anger and jealousy in that scene changed instead into disgust and horror as Kurt described Luce's tears, wounds, and the text he had been staring at. Blaine's father hadn't been exactly happy with his sexuality, but for someone to actually be hit for it by his own parent, that was something Blaine had not expected, in this story or Lucian's life. Blaine knew his mouth was agape with the disbelief he felt, but he still registered how much Kurt must care for Lucian to stay there with him and comfort him though they had just met the day before.

Kurt moved on to the next morning when Luce had been acting absolutely too normal, and his suggestion of telling someone. As he described Lucian's rant and breakdown, during which he discovered the Dean of Dalton Academy was Luce's father, Blaine got incredibly angry at the man he had thought was a kind individual who didn't care about anyone's social standing or sexuality and accepted everyone for who they were. He didn't know how someone could welcome him, a gay student, with open arms while secretly beating his son for liking boys. Then he remembered the high tuition he had paid to get in, and was disgusted anew at the things some people would do for money, something Blaine felt he had too much of.

He was also angry at himself for jumping to conclusions and letting his feelings get the better of him. The two scenes that had caused him to believe Kurt and Lucian were in a relationship repainted in his head, Blaine killed himself for his stupidity. What was wrong with him? He hadn't noticed the dark splotches all over Lucian's torso because he was too distracted by the fact that Kurt was holding him, and he had chosen to see a lover's spat instead of one boy who was clearly upset seeking comfort in the arms of his friend. He was about to apologize to Kurt and Lucian when he saw him next, But Kurt was continuing, the tears that had been filling his eyes throughout the story spilled over.

"…and I couldn't do anything, we couldn't think of anything. I was very confident about telling Luce he needed to tell someone, but I couldn't even suggest anyone. I never felt so helpless, not even when Karofsky terrified me by just ramming his finger into my chest over my heart and I didn't feel like anyone cared.

"I kept feeling that way until this morning, when I heard you on the phone saying that you didn't want to be on the news, and realized that you could be almost any time if you wanted to. I got this idea- it was crazy, but it was even crazier because it actually worked. I remembered this line in one of the books I read about bullying that said if you confront a bully then they might act out aggressively, and I remembered when I confronted Karofsky in the locker room," He said shivering a little. Blaine felt immensely guilty as he realized he had given Kurt the exactly wrong advice at that time. The fact that Kurt's first kiss was taken had been Blaine's fault, but not in the way he ever wanted it to be.

"I remember he acted on what fueled his desire to bully me; he felt endangered by the feeling he felt towards other men. He acted on those feelings and kissed me. I thought that what fueled the Dean's actions was a combination of homophobia and the need to impress others, so I went to his office and endangered his status, knowing that the homophobia would already be affected by me just being there. I told him I knew all about what he did to his son and why he did it, hoping to rile him up enough to get him to hit me. It actually felt indescribably good to yell at him, and it obviously worked," Kurt said and chuckled a little as he gestured to his nose.

"Nice and visible, just like I wanted. He can't run away from this one. He's going to be removed from his position and hopefully hauled off to jail. The hard part, though, is that I want Luce to tell everyone how he's been beaten by his father ever since he was small and I need to convince him to do so. I want him away from that family, Blaine, otherwise this will have all been for next to nothing."

Blaine could feel his respect for Kurt growing immensely. He was so _brave_. Crazy and reckless, but exceedingly brave. He had been terrified because of a bully just a while ago, yet here he was just having faced a full-grown, powerful, abusive man for the sake of his friend who he had met not even a week ago. Blaine very much doubted he could do that even for the sake of someone he had known and loved his entire life. Kurt had risked both injury and ruining his appearance (Blaine knew Kurt was nothing if not meticulous about how he looked; the boy had an absurd amount of hair and skin products so he could look perfect every day.) for Lucian's sake.

Blaine usually thought that Kurt looked beautiful, even on the days Kurt thought he didn't. A few minutes and one story ago, Blaine had been shocked by Kurt's appearance. Now he thought it was the most beautiful he had ever seen Kurt. Unannounced and unexpected, the lyrics of Jason Mraz's "A Beautiful Mess" began running through Blaine's head, describing Kurt perfectly for some reason.

_**You've got the best of both worlds**_

_**You're the kind of girl who can take down a man,**_

_**And lift him back up again**_

With the exception of the word girl, Blaine felt this phrase to ring true. After all, how many times had Kurt's actions brightened Blaine's mood to the point of ecstasy or dampened it until he shut himself in his room, without even realizing he was doing it?

_**You are strong but you're needy,**_

_**Humble but you're greedy**_

Kurt was strong, so very strong, and Blaine knew that now, but he had also seen him at his weakest as well. As for the humble and greedy part, Kurt would never ask for comfort or companionship unless he desperately needed it, but Blaine had seen his eyes light up with desire for it on multiple occasions.

_**And based on your body language,**_

_**And shoddy cursive I've been reading**_

_**Your style is quite selective,**_

_**Though your mind is rather reckless**_

Blaine had never considered Kurt reckless until he heard the story, but now the word undoubtedly described him, and if anyone knew style, it was Kurt.

_**Well I guess it just suggests**_

_**That this is just what happiness is**_

_**Hey, what a beautiful mess this is**_

_**It's like picking up trash in dresses**_

Kurt himself was a beautiful mess right now. Blaine wasn't sure why knowing how Kurt got his injury made it so precious and beautiful, but it did and Kurt was absolutely gorgeous right now, though he was covered in blood and had bruises around his eyes.

_**Well it kind of hurts when the **_

_**Kind of words you write**_

_**Kind of turn themselves into knives**_

_**And don't mind my nerve **_

_**You could call it fiction**_

_**But I like being submerged **_

_**In your contradictions, dear**_

Blaine had felt more emotional pain in the past week from being in love with Kurt than he ever had even when he was being bullied before he transferred to Dalton, but he still loved being close to him. He was helplessly in love with Kurt, though he had been stung in a thousand different directions by him without him even noticing

_**'Cause here we are, here we are**_

_**Although you were biased **_

_**I love your advice**_

_**Your comebacks ‒ they're quick**_

_**And probably have to do with your insecurities**_

_**There's no shame in being crazy,**_

_**Depending on how you take these**_

_**Words they're paraphrasing **_

_**This relationship we're staging**_

Why was the song so perfect? Kurt could cut someone with his insecurity- fueled sarcasm. Crazy was another word Blaine wouldn't have used on Kurt until today, but he could see the look in Kurt's eyes this morning. And as for paraphrasing their relationship… oh, how Blaine would like to do just that and make it sound like one actually existed.

_**And what a beautiful mess, yes it is**_

_**It's like picking up trash in dresses**_

_**Well it kind of hurts when the **_

_**Kind of words you say**_

_**Kind of turn **_

_**Themselves into blades**_

_**And the kind and courteous **_

_**Is a life I've heard**_

_**But it's nice to say **_

_**That we played in the dirt**_

_**'Cause here, here we are,**_

_**Here we are**_

_**Here we are**_

_**We're still here**_

_**What a beautiful mess this is**_

_**It's like taking a guess **_

_**When the only answer is "Yes"**_

_**Through timeless words and priceless pictures**_

_**We'll fly like birds not of this earth**_

_**And tides ‒ they turn ‒ and hearts disfigure**_

_**But that's no concern when we're wounded together**_

That was Kurt's mentality towards Lucian; Blaine could feel it. He wanted to take half Lucian's wounds for him to share his burden and defend him. And if it were possible, Blaine loved him even more for it.

_**And we tore our dresses and stained our shirts**_

_**But it's nice today. Oh, the wait was so worth it.**_

A sob was what stopped Blaine from overanalyzing the song as he tended to do with things. Both his and Kurt's heads snapped towards the doorway.

* * *

Luce had seen Blaine walking swiftly past his third period classroom, and knew that he was going to look for Kurt. Luce hid a smile- Blaine and Kurt were head over heels for each other and neither of them realized it. He was happy the person his friend loved was so concerned about him.

Luce was worried about Kurt's whereabouts too, and on top of that was concerned about the "plan" Blaine had mentioned that Kurt had earlier, so it took all of about five minutes of fidgeting before he had to follow. He said he was feeling under the weather and left.

He heard the two in Blaine's room, talking, and was about to enter the cracked door when he realized he was the one being talked about. Kurt was telling Blaine everything; all the things Lucian had tried to keep secret. He was angry, but then reasoned that if Kurt trusted Blaine with the story then he should too. He sat outside the door to listen.

Luce was fine until Kurt got to the part about his plan. He hadn't seen Kurt yet, but the fact that he had confronted his father and gotten hurt for it, the fact that he had gone in expecting to get hurt, all for him, made him start to cry.

He had never meant to put Kurt through this all by becoming friends with him; if he had known he would have continued to be sullen and alone, hiding his true self. Still, he was so completely happy and honored that Kurt would do this for him, that he would confront Luce's father who was a very intimidating man for the boy he had met not a week ago.

Luce was crying tears of regret but also of happiness until he heard the rest of Kurt's story and it sunk in. Kurt had confronted his _father_. His father knew someone knew about Luce's homosexuality and about his beatings. His father knew that someone knew and now another person knew and he was going to kill Luce and Luce suddenly wanted to run and to hide and to be anywhere but in this school so close to his father….

Luce's tears had changed in to tears of fear, and though he knew the conversation in the room had stopped and it was quiet he couldn't help himself from emitting a loud sob.


	13. Faces and Names

**I was just so depressed that my last chapter didn't get very many (A.K.A. only 1) comments that I couldn't write the next chapter. Actually, I was just lazy and had school work and stuff. I finished this a while ago but had no computer access (as I said on my most recent oneshot- you should read them I hear they are good. I would like to hear that from more people though, if they would be so kind as to leave a review). I am sorry it's late but hopefully it is sufficiently long/good enough to merit the wait. I would like confirmation of denial on whether it is good enough in the form of little things called**

**REVIEWS**

**if you all would be so kind as to write some for me. I like them.**

**Anyway... back to the story. Please enjoy.**

Kurt looked at the doorway in alarm. The door was cracked open, not shut like he had thought, and someone had clearly been listening to his and Blaine's conversation. Well… it was more of a one-sided thing on his part than a conversation, but still.

That someone had just let out a frightened sob that Kurt immediately recognized, having heard its brethren multiple times before. Luce was the only one who could have made that sound, and he was the last person Kurt wanted to have listened in on the story he just told. Kurt was glad Luce hadn't killed him for telling another person about his problem yet, but he was freaking out, and that was possibly even scarier than him being angry. Actually, the time Kurt had seen him angry had ended in him freaking out and breaking down and crying, so maybe Kurt had just skipped a step?

Either way, Kurt knew he had to do something quickly before Luce ran away somewhere or locked himself in his room blaring Tokio Hotel or something similar. He commented, "Crap!" to no one in particular, though Blaine was probably the only one who heard as Luce was rather occupied by crying.

Kurt swiftly opened the door. Sure enough, Luce was curled up with his arms around his legs hugging them close to his body as he buried his face in them, trembling. As soon as he picked up his head a little and saw Kurt, he looked as though he was about to bolt down the hallway. Kurt dragged him inside Blaine's room, a little unintentionally roughly, and sat him down on Blaine's bed. Blaine was all but invisible to him as he wrapped his arms tightly around Luce.

"He's going to kill me now, isn't he?" Luce asked in a quivering, irrational voice without looking at Kurt.

"No he is not. I won't let him. I did this so he could never touch you again," Kurt could feel Luce relaxing in his arms at his words. He only needed him calm so he could explain to him what he wanted him to do. Luce looked up at him, eyes still fearful but at least lucid. Tear tracks ran down his face and drops of water were still slipping past his lower eyelashes onto Kurt's blazer which was already covered in blood.

"Your face," Luce said almost mournfully, as he reached out to gently touch Kurt's bruised eyes and swollen nose, "I can't believe you would… For me…"

Kurt had an idea to play on this guilt- anything to get Luce to talk, "Yes I did this for you, but it will all have been for nothing if you don't tell anyone what he does to you. Children who have been abused are more likely to abuse their own children, so it's likely your grandfather abused your father when he was younger. I will not let you return to the house with your mother who did nothing to help you and that man, who will probably be furious that his son was sent to jail," Kurt cringed a little inwardly, half-expecting Luce to be taken over by fear again as he said this. His friend seemed to have strengthened his resolve, though, and he barely even flinched.

"I assure you he will go to jail- I'll make Blaine here hire me the best lawyer possible if I have to, to make that happen," Kurt sent a little wink at the useless-feeling Blaine standing off to the side, unsure of what to do. He had no idea how much faster this made Blaine's heart beat, even done with a broken nose.

"Do you have anyone who you would want to take custody of you?" He asked Luce in a quiet voice.

"My aunt!" he replied, brightening a little, "She's really smart and cool and she tried to stop my dad once, but then he…" Luce's sudden brightness shrunk visibly,"… he hit her."

"Well, we'll see what we can do. Are you going to come with me when I talk to the police and tell them what your father has been doing?"

Luce steeled his jaw in determination before replying, "Yes," in a voice that didn't shake at all.

Kurt heard siren noises in the distance.

* * *

Blaine was caught up staring at Kurt and not sure what he should be doing. He felt very out of place in Kurt and Luce's moment they appeared to be having. He just stood there wondering how many more enchanting, lovable sides Kurt could show him.

First had been an adorable nervousness, the day he had come to spy on the Warblers. That same day had shown Blaine Kurt's breathtaking smile, and also his heartrending tearful face, which was exquisite as well. He had seen so many faces since then, since Kurt had moved to Dalton. He kept his eyes on Kurt as much as possible without the other boy noticing, ever since he had first met him.

He knew the little nuances of Kurt's behavior- the way he bit his lower lip when he was thinking or the way he pouted just a little when someone didn't agree with him. He bit his mechanical pencils when he was having a bad day, and ran his hand through his hair when he was excited, messing up his attempts at perfectly pristine locks that he worked towards each morning.

He had seen Kurt sad, confused, nervous, happy, terrified, overcome, and just about every other emotion he had heard of. Blaine knew more about the boy's actions than almost anyone else, yet he failed to see the reasoning behind those actions and misunderstood things that should have been clear to him. Rose tinted vision drastically warped the things Blaine saw through it.

And though he had watched Kurt for so long and thought he knew all of his expressions, Kurt kept surprising Blaine. Just today, he had seen three new sides to the person he loved that he had completely not expected. The manic-excited, determined look Kurt had shown him for the first time this morning had scared him, but had led to two of the most beautiful faces Blaine had seen yet.

While not outwardly beautiful, quite the opposite, the strong loyalty and willingness to sacrifice himself for his friends had struck Blaine harder than Cupid's arrow had the moment he saw Kurt's awful spying attempt. Now, however, was and even lovelier face. The strong caring and devotion in Kurt's eyes and his tenderness towards the boy he was hugging reminded Blaine of a father. Not that he had ever experienced his own father's arms around him in that manner- Blaine's family wasn't a touchy- feely one. Still, he was almost jealous of the children Kurt might adopt or use a surrogate to have in the future, as much as he was jealous of Luce right now. Kurt was so caring that he would be a wonderful father.

_Oh to be wrapped in those arms, _Blaine daydreamed before Kurt startled him by the mention of his name. He nodded, eager to appease after the floating feeling the daydream had left him with. He wasn't sure what he had just agreed to, but in the mood he was in he would gladly do it. The wink that went along with it made his heart speed up to at least five times its normal rate and had a smattering of pink, hopefully unnoticed by the otherwise occupied Kurt, spreading across his cheeks.

Luce had just agreed to tell the police about the _horrible_- Blaine ground his teeth together in anger – thing that had been done to him, when the first hint of sirens could be heard in the distance. Kurt got that slightly crazy look in his eyes again, phase two of his mission was about to commence, and dragged both Blaine and Kurt downstairs and outside.

* * *

Luce was incredibly nervous. He knew he was lucky school was still in session and the teachers wouldn't let their children leave their classes just to see what the siren was about, but there were a few people looking out the windows of their dorm rooms and the students that had classes at the front of the school were looking out those windows as well. He felt sort of like a bug under a microscope as the police began their questioning.

Kurt, on the other hand, oozed confidence even with the crowd. If he was nervous or scared or anything else included in the muddle of emotions Luce was feeling at the moment, he didn't show it.

Luce tried to absorb some of the confidence, and stood a little straighter.

* * *

Kurt adopted a teary face. It wasn't that he was acting; it was more like he was calling on emotions he had repressed earlier. The talk with the police had cumulated in Luce's father being taken away in handcuffs. The news crew arrived just in time to film it.

The news crew also talked to both Kurt and Luce about what happened. It went wonderfully, Kurt's only regret being that he had to make his first television appearance in such hideous condition.

Blaine drove him and Luce to the nearest doctor's office, where his broken nose was treated and Luce's bruises and scars were looked at. He was overjoyed at the news that his nose would definitely heal straight.

They returned to the dorm and their respective rooms, where Kurt finally got to change out of his blood-splattered blazer (He would send it to the dry cleaners tomorrow) and put on something more fashionable and comfortable.

Yes, the mission was going wonderfully. At least he thought it was. Kurt was about to settle down and relax with his nightly skin care routine when he spotted his phone, buzzing rapidly with calls and texts, and discovered an unexpected hindrance in his plan.

* * *

Burt Hummel was sitting close to Carole on the couch in their living room while Finn sat on his dad's old chair fiddling with his iPod and not paying attention.

They were watching the news. Well, Carole was while Burt waited anxiously to change the channel, afraid that he would miss a game he wanted to see. He zoned out for several minutes until Carole gasped beside him and tugged at his arm. Finn looked up at his mother's outburst as well.

It took Burt a second to make sense of what he was seeing. Was a famous person Carole liked on the news or something? But no, it looked like an injured person.

The navy, red-trimmed jackets of the two boys looked surprisingly familiar, as did the face of one, but the actual identities didn't register. Mostly because that couldn't possibly be _his_ son on the news with a big black eye, holding hands with the boy who reluctantly lifted up the edge of his shirt to display fading bruises and cuts together with scars. It couldn't be his son, who was at a private school with a zero-tolerance policy against harassment. It only finally registered when the reporter introduced the two as Kurt Hummel and Lucian Dalton.

He finally realized it was indeed his son and he paid immediate attention to the news as he never had before to find out why he had blood and bruises all over his face and was now on the news. He didn't even wait until the part where the reporter asked if the two boys were boyfriends before storming out of the room to make two calls- a concerned one to his son and a livid one to the school he was attending.

* * *

Blaine watched the questioning and the interview with increasing discomfort. It was supposed to be gone by now, he wasn't supposed to feel this. Kurt's explanation had made it obvious, as obvious as it had been before his jealous mind twisted certain situations around, that he and Lucian were just friends.

So why did he feel anger at the sight of their linked hands? Was it because he hadn't held Kurt's hand since that first day when he came to spy on the Warblers, yet Lucian was able to freely? Was it because he felt that Lucian was closer to Kurt in just days than Blaine had gotten in the months since he met the beautiful, glasz-eyed boy? Was it because he thought he would be trapped in the role of mentor and aid forever, without the options of lover or even friend? He didn't know but he still felt it despite his best efforts at burying the fury in his heart.

His teeth and stomach clenched when the reporter asked if Kurt and Lucian were boyfriends and said that they would make a cute couple. He wasn't relieved in the least when Kurt answered "No" because it was immediately followed by a "because we both like other people."

_Who?_ The word filled his mind. The small part of it that wasn't filled with the echoing question ran through lists of people it could be, all more handsome and jock-like than he was, while his heart was busy being depressed at its ever-lowering chances of happiness. The only thing that could make it happy was Kurt.

It filled his mind all through the trip to the hospital and back, and continued after he left Kurt and Luce to go their own respective ways.

He shut himself in his room, once again despising his own weakness; despising the control his emotions had over him.

* * *

Dave Karofsky was sitting in his small living room his parents. His dad hadn't truly looked at him for months since that day in the office when he was expelled. His mother was more in approval of his actions- she hated homos more than he pretended he did.

His mother was in the other room commenting loudly on how the boys on the TV were disgusting and deserved to be hit for being gay when Dave walked in to put his plate in the sink. He started at the sight on the screen- it was Kurt, covered in blood and holding hands with a boy he didn't know. He stayed in the kitchen to hear the rest of the story.

His lips tingled as he remembered the kiss. He wanted to do it even more now that he had once, and just the sight of Kurt even with his face like that made his breathing heavier.

As he listened to the TV, he was filled with remorse. He was the one who had driven Kurt out of McKinley, him and no one else. He was the reason Kurt was at that school and therefore the reason he was in that state.

He wanted to be the one that Kurt loved and cherished, but he also wanted the comfort of his home and his mother. He knew that he couldn't have both, and chose to twist his feelings into a form of homophobia and hurt the one he loved instead of caring for him. It had been a challenge back then, but the other people's attitudes at school had made him chose that way. After seeing this, he wondered if it would have been better to go with the other option.

But… Kurt said that he wasn't his type. It would have been hopeless for David anyway. He tuned out his mother's homophobic ranting and buried his concern as he walked back into the other room.

* * *

_**Dad**_

_**Mercedes**_

_**Finn**_

_**Dad**_

_**Quinn**_

_**Dad**_

_**Rachel**_

_**Dad**_

_**Dad**_

_**Mercedes**_

_**Puck**_

_**Sam**_

_**Dad**_

_**Mr. Schue**_

_**Dad**_

The list of callers went on and on. He didn't even want to look at the number of texts- his inbox had filled a while ago and he would get the others, however many they might be, later after he had deleted the first batch.

He was about to call his father back when the room suddenly spun. His injury and exhaustion were taking their toll. He just about passed out on the bed without even pulling the covers down, much less calling someone.

* * *

The next weeks passed in a fast-paced blaze of court trips- Kurt was a witness for the arrest of Luce's father. The Dean, now the ex-Dean, was put in jail for a significant amount of time, though Kurt suspected it would have been longer if money hadn't changed hands somewhere in the system.

Luce was put in the care of his aunt who also took over the position of Dean, putting her PhD in education to good use, and looked happier than ever. Kurt realized the other smiles Luce had given him were just a little fake, and that his real smile was even more charming than all his others (Much like Kurt's own, though he didn't realize it). He was slightly suspicious of the aunt even though Luce adored her, but when he saw the genuine love in her eyes as she looked at him, his worries vanished.

He was also busy calling back all of the concerned people who had called him that night when he fell asleep. Many of them actually came to visit, with varying degrees of worry on their faces.

His dad had been the worst- once he heard that Kurt had planned to get punched, he drove right over and proceeded to berate Kurt in person, over the phone not being enough. On the upside, Burt was quite taken by Luce and invited him to the Hudson-Hummel household anytime. Kurt was not sure Luce would take him up on this offer, though, seeing as how he had just witnessed him yelling at Kurt for half an hour at the top of his lungs, but was happy his dad liked his friend.

All through the halls of Dalton, the people who had previously ignored him now all wanted to talk to him. The story of how he had confronted the old Dean had gotten around to even those without TVs in their rooms and apparently he was somewhat of a hero. Which made it significantly harder for him to get to classes on time and pay attention once he was there. Luckily, the teachers had the same mentality as the students about the whole situation and cut him quite a bit of slack, though the homework was still overwhelming.

The next thing he knew, it was February.


	14. Results

**An overall lighthearted sort of chapter- a nice break from the previous ones. Nothing much really happens in it. Enjoy :)**

**Simon says... leave me a review.**

Kurt thought back on the past month, but he couldn't recall it in any form besides results. There were the results of the court cases:

Luce's dad was thrown in jail.

Luce's grandfather was removed from his position as chairman.

Luce's aunt adopted him and took over the position of Dean.

Luce had all his inheritance money, which he had to sue to get, put in a trust fund for when he turned 21.

There were the results of his appearance on television:

He got called and then yelled at by a lot of people

He was required to go visit many of his friends individually so they could make sure he was all right.

He was visited by even more of his friends.

He was a hero to the rest of Dalton Academy.

He got his own facebook fan page, which he discovered yesterday, and had over a thousand people who apparently thought he was totally awesome

There were the results of his rigorous schedule, coupled with a lack of paying attention in class:

He got his first ever Fs, one in each of two classes, despite teachers cutting him slack.

He barely ever got time to hang out with Luce for more than 15 minutes any one day.

He forgot about re-joining the Warblers.

He barely got to see Blaine at all, much less develop his relationship with him any further.

These were all facts- Kurt didn't feel like any of them were going to change in the future. Well, there was one that would change. He would make it change. It was almost Valentine's Day, the kind of commercialized holiday he pretended to hate while secretly getting all mushy over, and he would be damned if he didn't get one iota closer to Blaine before then. He might have to just confess and hope for the best if he didn't manage it.

Kurt was thinking on methods of confession that wouldn't hurt his pride or make him look like an idiot when he heard it. Music and singing.

It was eerily similar to that fateful day when he had first met Luce- he followed the sound to an open door and began singing along quietly. There were three main differences, actually.

The first was that this door led not to an empty classroom with a piano, but rather to a more familiar location- Luce's dorm room, just a little ways down from Kurt's own. The second was that this time Luce didn't notice when Kurt joined in on his song. The third was that the blaring music wasn't classical in the least. It was Adam Lambert.

_**So I got my boots on, got the right 'mount of leather **_

_**And I'm doing me up with a black color liner **_

_**And I'm workin' my strut but I know it don't matter **_

_**All we need in this world is some love **_

_**There's a thin line 'tween the dark side and the light side baby tonight **_

_**It's a struggle gotta rumble trying to find it **_

Kurt walked into the room, its door wide open, and just stood there staring at Luce in disbelief for a while. The boy was sitting on his bed, facing the wall, with a ridiculous smile on his adorable face. He was staring obviously at a picture of Wes that Kurt had definitely not stolen from Blaine's room to give to Luce a few weeks ago. Of course not.

Luce was being rather oblivious for someone who was staring at the picture of his straight crush who lived close by with his door wide open so anyone who passed could easily look in and tell said crush. Or worse, the crush himself could look in. Kurt was glad he came by when he did.

_**But if I had you, that would be the only thing I'd ever need **_

_**Yeah if I had you, then money, fame and fortune never could compete **_

_**If I had you, life would be a party it'd be ecstasy **_

_**Yeah, if I had you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**If I had you. **_

Kurt walked over to the iPod set in the speakers and clicked the menu button. Luce was still unaware of his presence. He saw that it was set to shuffle every single Adam Lambert song Luce owned, and boy were there a lot of them. It appeared to Kurt, who was reasonably familiar but not obsessed with the artist, that Luce had every single version of every single song Adam Lambert had ever sung in his lifetime. It was a staggering list.

_Mental note:_

_Luce is a major Adam Lambert fan._

_Luce listens to German emo music when he is depressed and plays Adam Lambert obsessivelyon shuffle when he is happy and lovesick._

_**From New York to LA getting high rock n' rollin **_

_**Get a room trash it up 'til it's ten in the morning**_

_**Girls in stripper heels, boys rolling in Maseratis **_

_**What they need in this world is some love **_

_**There's a thin line 'tween a wild time and a flat line baby tonight **_

_**It's a struggle, gotta rumble tryin' to find it **_

Kurt thought it might be an appropriate time to notify Luce of his presence, but he just seemed so content and blissful that he couldn't bring himself to. He just stood there and watched Luce for a while, after closing the door to prevent any unwelcome intruders.

_**But if I had you, that would be the only thing I'd ever need **_

_**Yeah if I had you, then money, fame and fortune never could compete **_

_**If I had you, life would be a party it'd be ecstasy **_

_**Yeah, if I had you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**If I had **_

_**The flashing of the lights **_

_**It might feel so good**_

_**But I've got you stuck on my mind, yeah! **_

_**The fashion and the stage **_

_**It might get me high **_

_**But it don't mean a thing tonight **_

_**That would be the only thing I'd ever need **_

_**Yeah, if I had you, the money, fame and fortune never could compete **_

_**If I had you, life would be a party it'd be ecstasy **_

_**Yeah, if I had you **_

_**You-y-y-y-y-you **_

_**You-y-y-y-y-you **_

_**You-y-y-y-y-you **_

_**If I had you **_

_**That would be the only thing I'd ever need **_

_**Yeah, if I had you, then money, fame and fortune never could compete (never could compete with you)**_

_**If I had you, life would be a party it'd be ecstasy (it'd be ecstasy with you)**_

_**Yeah, if I had you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**You y-y-y-y-you **_

_**If I had you**_

The song was finally over, and Kurt felt like he could interrupt. He tapped Luce on the shoulder, making him almost jump out of his skin. He whirled around lightning fast and almost fell off the bed exclaiming, "Kurt!"

The song "Music Again" was starting, but Kurt turned the volume down until it was just nice background noise. He then addressed Luce.

"Yes, it is me, lucky for you. What if it was someone else? Someone like… Oh, I don't know… Wes?" He said looking pointedly at the very obvious picture still in Luce's hands.

Lice looked decidedly horrified for a split-second before returning to his usual appearance and retorting, "Why would anyone besides you, much less Wes, come into my room?"

"Oh, did you forget? Once you put away that scowl and showed the students of Dalton Academy your true charm and alluring smiles, they were like putty in your paws. Now you have those pesky things called friends who might want to come into your room. One of whom, I might add, is Blaine. You know, the same Blaine currently occupying the position of Wes's second best friend?"

Luce looked horrified anew and turned pale. Kurt was speaking the truth. He suspected Blaine and Luce saw each other more than he did either of them. He was just a little, no actually a lot, jealous of both of them.

"Well, you're just lucky I was the one who walked by, not anyone else. I had the sense to close the door, which you were too love struck to remember to do."

Kurt decided that another of the facts on his list was going to change: he was going to get closer to Blaine AND he was going to spend more time with Luce. He looked at his phone and saw that it was almost 10:00 in the morning and he was scheduled to meet Mercedes at 11. He made his apologies to Luce and raced down the hall to get his bag and wallet before leaving. He was going to fulfill the promise to himself that he would spend more time with Luce. Later.

* * *

Blaine entered the room just as Kurt was walking out the front door of the dorm.

"Hey," he said to Luce-He was Luce not Lucian to Blaine now- sitting on his bed after hastily stashing the picture of Wes under his pillow.

"Oh, Adam Lambert?" He nodded towards the speakers.

"Hey, Blaine, what's up?"

"I was just bored so I decided I would stop by and say 'Hi.'"

"So you actually want to talk about Kurt," Blaine blinked in surprise- Luce was deadly accurate with his accusation. Though it was still strained and Blaine felt that angry, jealous emotion every now and then when he saw Luce and Kurt holding hands or the like, his and Luce's relationship was progressing fairly well. Kurt being the common point between the two, he was frequently the topic of discussion.

"Well… Valentine's Day is in nine days and I was wondering if I should get him a gift or would that be too forward? I mean what if he wants to give one to someone else and then can't accept it or accepts it out of pity or something, I mean…."

* * *

Luce sighed. He liked Blaine, but the usually succinct boy tended to prattle on when he was talking about Kurt. Honestly those two had no clue about each other's feelings. He knew both of them loved each other, but that fact wasn't his secret to tell and he just had to give his advice and hope they follow it.

"Go ahead and go for it. He'll like whatever it is you get him for sure."

Blaine nodded, happy to have the decision made for him, and changed the subject. "Speaking of Valentine's Day, who's the guy you like?"

Luce really didn't want to answer, but how could he avoid it with that direct question? He… He…

"I plead the fifth," he said eliciting a laugh from Blaine.

"Alright, I'll find out eventually though. You know I will."

He paused a bit before continuing, "...I'm sorry."

"For what?" Luce looked up in suprise.

"For never getting to know you before now. You're really awesome. And for being horrible to you when Kurt first met you. I guess I was just a little... no, a lot, jealous."

Luce flushed a little with the praise, " Thanks and it's fine. I know you were."

Blaine nodded a little awkwardly and left- Luce shut the door behind him. He turned the volume back up and got the picture out again, blaring "Aftermath" while staring at it.

**What? You didn't review my story? Well then you lose. Simon says read my other one-shot type stories.**


	15. Auditions

**This is the part where I normally beg for you guys to revies this and my other stories. No, seriously. Memories Make Dreams Make Memories is my favorite one-shot I've written and only like 100 people have read it and no one has reviewed it yet. I'm not going to demand it, but remember that I am looking at you with big, sad, adorable puppy eyes. Think ASPCA commercial. **

**Anyway...**

**Enjoy :)**

The next morning, Kurt was sitting next to Blaine on the fringe of the Warblers' claimed table, with Luce across from him. It was all part of his plans to get closer to both of them.

"When are you coming back to the Warbler rehearsals? Luce too- he can join them now," Blaine was asking, obviously excited by the idea.

"Actually, he can't. And you can't either, Kurt. Not without an audition." Blaine glared at Wes as the Asian boy interrupted.

"Wait, I have to audition? Again? Why?" Kurt asked inquisitively. Until Blaine had mentioned it Kurt had completely forgotten he was supposed to be a part of the Warblers. He'd had a lot going on. Once Blaine had commented on it, however, a growing excitement had budded inside him. Wes' comment had just put a slight damper on that, though: Kurt didn't have a good history with auditions in this school.

"You've been absent for over a month; it's just standard club procedure. Sorry," Wes had a warm look in his eyes despite his sometimes uptight demeanor, and he was beginning to grow on Kurt even more than he already had. Kurt understood why Blaine was friends with him. Luce was just staring at them, more at Wes than Kurt, and listening to the conversation. Kurt knew he would object of he had a problem with anything.

"So both Luce and I have to audition."

"Yes. Would Thursday be good? We have a little bit of time in the schedule at the beginning…"

"Sure, but can we…" Kurt was filled suddenly with nervous excitement and a twinge of fear, ideas racing through his mind that he worried would be shot down but still had to suggest, "do a duet?"

Wes looked slightly surprised but quickly agreed- it would save them time anyway. When Kurt asked if he and Luce could dress up a bit for the performance, Wes just let out a short laugh.

"Don't you dress up for rehearsals anyway? You're always in those crazy clothes."

"That is called fashion, Wesley, and that is normal, not dressed up."

"Firstly- don't call me that. Ever. Blaine will attest to the fact that offenders will in fact be punished severely. Secondly- I look forward to seeing what dressed up is then."

Kurt looked questioningly at Blaine who sighed and whispered into his ear. It tickled and Kurt could feel Blaine's breath on his skin: he couldn't help blushing.

"He replaced all my hair gel with honey. It was horrible."

Kurt burst out into loud, uncharacteristically boisterous laughter because he could actually picture it- Blaine's hair sticking to itself and his fingers while he looks in the mirror, horrified. He looked at Wes with new eyes. He didn't think the strict boy could pull such a fantastic prank. He was so impressed he gave him a high-five and Blaine put on a hurt face that wasn't very effective since his smile broke through ever few seconds.

* * *

Blaine saw Luce look back and forth a few times, but figured Kurt would tell him later. Blaine had enough experience with the dining hall to know that if you didn't want something spread around to the whole school, you didn't speak it above a whisper while you were there. He had somehow managed to keep that embarrassing incident from reaching everyone's ears, and he wasn't about to let it get out now.

Luce asked Kurt, "What are we doing?"

"I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for everyone, now would I?"

Kurt had a conspirational gleam in his eye and a devilish smile gracing his pink lips. It alarmed Blaine because it was reminiscent of the manic look Kurt had donned before confronting Luce's father. Blaine wasn't sure whether he even wanted to know what Kurt was thinking, but a morbid curiosity about Kurt's song choice filled him at the same time. Could he even wait until Thursday?

Kurt leaned across the table and pressed his lips close to Luce's ear, making that little twinge of jealousy Blaine still felt sometimes appear. He didn't hear what was said but he saw Luce's face light up in the biggest smile he had ever seen on anyone. He grabbed Kurt's hands and practically squealed with delight.

"I know, right? And I know you have the perfect outfits somewhere- don't you dare tell me you don't have a secret collection of clothes in his style under your bed because with that many of his songs on your iPod you must be a die-hard fan," Kurt said in reply to the excited noise. He and Luce both got up, presumably going to Luce's room to practice and pick perfect outfits. Blaine's curiosity and dread heightened as he heard Kurt chattering with Luce as they left.

"…so grab everything leather, studded, metallic, or black that you own and lay it out on your bed. I'll look up the lyrics, though I'm sure you know them by heart, and see if I can find any sheet music. There's a piano in the room the Warblers rehearse in that we could use. This is going to be beautiful. Do you have any of those metal hand things?"

* * *

Kurt had plopped himself down on the corner of Luce's bed with papers in hand. Luce was digging through his closet in a valiant effort to further diminish the available space on the bed. A surprising abundance of black clothing Kurt was surprised he had not noticed when he first inspected Luce's closet already occupied it. In addition, there was plenty of leather, piles of metal accessories, and suspicious amounts of things with studs on them. Kurt didn't know where he had pulled everything from, but it was perfect for what they were going to do and the exhilaration he only felt putting outfits together was just beginning. He marveled once again at his own preference for tight clothing and Luce's for looser clothing which allowed them to wear the same size in almost everything.

He knew the song choice was risqué and showy and pretty much everything the Warblers weren't, but he really wanted to just throw his fabulousness in their faces and had ever since that failed solo audition. Kurt loved him, but who was Blaine to tell him that he should try to fit in? He liked sticking out, in a good way. A best-dressed-kid-in-school type of sticking out, not an only-out-gay-kid-in-a-school-full-of-homophobes kind of way.

Besides, the Warbler's couldn't comment on the song's suggestive nature, they had been guilty of that themselves. He was _still _thinking about Blaine in skintight jeans…

"So, which of these fabulous selections should we wear?"

After much debating and deliberation, they decided and went down to the room where Kurt first met Luce to practice.

* * *

Blaine had no idea where Kurt and Luce had been disappearing to the past few days, but they were gone as soon as class ended and were late to dinner. They always looked like they were sharing a secret joke between them. Blaine wasn't looking forward to the performance anymore- he was just looking forward to being able to actually see Kurt.

Thursday. Today. Blaine walked into the Warblers' rehearsal room with apprehension filling his gut. To his surprise, everything looked completely normal, and neither Kurt nor Luce was there. Had they skipped once again?

Wes started with announcements as usual, but at the end of them added, "Lucian and Kurt will now audition for spots in the Warblers. They have instructed me to turn off the lights in order to fully appreciate their performance."

The other boys looked up and shifted a little in excitement. The room wasn't the same without Kurt in it after he joined, and Luce was growing in each of their hearts do to his irresistible smile that he was showing more and more often. One of them got up and shut off the lights.

Instantly, the room was filled with the purple color of black light. The windows let in just enough light to illuminate everything, but the room was filled with a mysterious atmosphere. Blaine tensed in his seat.

Luce was the one who entered first. He was wearing a faded jean jacket, a black t-shirt with some type of shiny gold design, dark grey skinny jeans with gold chains on them, fingerless leather gloves with gold studs on the knuckles, and black heeled combat boots. His bright blue eyes were outlined in a thick layer of eyeliner, and his honey locks were swept over one of them. Blaine had to admit, the blond boy looked sexy.

Luce went over to the piano and started playing and singing, slower than the song normally went, fingerless gloves somehow not inhibiting his natural skill.

_**So hot**_

_**Out the box**_

_**Can we pick up the pace?**_

_**Turn it up,**_

_**Heat it up**_

_**I need to be entertained**_

_**Push the limit**_

_**Are you with it?**_

_**Baby, don't be afraid**_

_**I'ma hurt ya real good, baby**_

The music suddenly sped up to normal pace, and Luce stopped playing as Kurt entered the room dramatically, taking over the melody.

_**Let's go**_

His clothes looked like a second skin the way they hugged his body.

_**It's my show**_

The silver-studded leather jacket hugged Kurt's frame so close that Blaine could barely tell the tight-fitting black shirt underneath it was there.

_**Baby, do what I say**_

Kurt was dancing and the light shimmered off his absurdly tight (in all the right places), shiny black skinny jeans that disappeared beneath thigh-high silver boots.

_**Don't trip off the glitz**_

His hair was styled up into some more-fashionable version of a pompadour, and his eyes too were popping because they were rimmed heavily in black.

_**That I'm gonna display**_

On his hands he wore that half-hand metal glove straight from the cover of the "For Your Entertainment" single, and whenever he beckoned or pointed with those long, thin fingers Blaine could barely conceal the shivers that ran through his body.

_**I told ya**_

Blaine was just staring, wide-eyed at Kurt, barely listening to the lyrics.

_**I'ma hold ya down until you're amazed**_

When he did start paying attention to them, they weren't any help in calming him down.

_**Give it to ya 'til your screaming my name**_

When the chorus started, Luce joined in and got up off the piano bench to dance with Kurt.

_**No escaping when I start**_

_**Once I'm in I own your heart**_

_**There's no way to ring the alarm**_

_**So hold on until it's over**_

The two boys were dancing close to each other and against each other in ways that Blaine thought should be illegal. That twinge of jealousy appeared yet again.

_**Oh, do you know what you got into?**_

_**Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?**_

'_**Cause it's about to get rough for you**_

_**I'm here for your entertainment**_

Blaine would give pretty much anything to be the one Kurt was running his hands over right now. Speaking of which, was it really necessary for Kurt to run his hands over Luce's chest like that? Blaine crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

_**Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet**_

_**Thought an angel swept ya off your feet**_

_**Well I'm about to turn up the heat**_

_**I'm here for your entertainment**_

He couldn't keep them closed for long, though. The music and Kurt's appearance both drew his attention and forced him to open his eyes to look, especially when Kurt started singing alone again.

_**It's alright**_

_**You'll be fine**_

_**Baby, I'm in control**_

_**Take the pain**_

_**Take the pleasure**_

_**I'm the master of both**_

_**Close your eyes**_

_**Not your mind**_

_**Let me into your soul**_

_**I'ma work ya til you're totally blown**_

Luce took the first verse of the chorus this time. His voice was beautiful Blaine had to admit, and he looked beautiful, but Blaine thought Kurt was better in both aspects.

_**No escaping when I start**_

_**Once I'm in I own your heart**_

_**There's no way to ring the alarm**_

_**So hold on until it's over**_

Kurt took the second verse, altering some of the notes to show his ridiculous high range. He had been wonderful while singing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and Blaine had no idea why he didn't get the solo, but this was different. It was more dramatic, more energetic, and Kurt sounded even better. He looked as though he was perfectly in his zone, just as much as he had when he was belting tunes from Broadway.

_**Oh, do you know what you got into?**_

_**Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?**_

'_**Cause it's about to get rough for you**_

_**I'm here for your entertainment**_

They came together again for the third verse, and slowed down the song yet again. Kurt and Luce sat next to each other, each playing the piano now.

_**Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet**_

_**Thought an angel swept ya off your feet**_

_**Well I'm about to turn up the heat**_

_**I'm here for your entertainment**_

Now, Luce took the held-out notes while Kurt took the actual words.

_**Oooohhh…..**_

_**Do you like what you see?**_

_**Wooooaaaahhhh…**_

_**Let me entertain ya 'till you screeaaam**_

Luce and Kurt sang the last part together, still slow, sides pressed against each other. Blaine had to fight the urge to run up to the piano, pull Kurt away from Luce, and plant a rough, passionate kiss on his beautiful lips.

_**Oh, do you know what you got into?**_

_**Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?**_

'_**Cause it's about to get rough for you**_

_**I'm here for your entertainment**_

_**Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet (bet ya thought)**_

_**Thought an angel swept ya off your feet**_

_**Well I'm about to turn up the heat (turn up the heat)**_

_**I'm here for your entertainment**_

When the two finished, Kurt went over and turned the lights back on, then turned back around with his hands on his hips in expectation. Blaine looked around at the other Warblers in the room. All of them were wide eyes and staring at Kurt and Luce, who had gotten up to stand beside him. There were a few ones who were actually exhibiting cliché jaw drops. At least half of them had their legs crossed just as Blaine did. _Great, now Kurt is going to turn the whole school gay and give me more competition. _

Kurt and Luce were smiling broadly, but their smiles were fading slowly as the room remained silent. Blaine realized slowly that they were waiting for some type of reaction- applause, probably. He raised his hand to start, but an energetic clapping sound came from behind him. He turned around toward the council's table and saw Wes smiling and pressing his hands together rapidly. Kurt beamed at him.

_That's my smile_, Blaine couldn't help but thinking, _Wes won't appreciate it anyway._

The other Warblers followed Wes's example, some of them jumping to their feet in a standing ovation, Blaine included, once he deemed it was safe to do so. Many Warblers ran up to hug Kurt and welcome him back, and shake Luce's hand as they welcomed him to the club. It was obvious how the council was going to vote. Blaine was surprised at the intensity of their feelings as they re-welcomed Kurt; he hadn't realized they liked him so much. They had all been fairly cold to him in the rehearsals when he first transferred, but now they were treating him like he was their best friend.

_I guess you don't know what you've got until it's gone,_ Blaine mused as he watched the scene. He was so engrossed in watching that his opportunity to hug Kurt had passed him by. He was so engrossed in watching that it was a wonder he didn't notice Kurt's real smile get replaced with a fake one as everyone moved to sit down.

* * *

Outside, Kurt was happy. Outside, Kurt was smiling. It was true that he enjoyed all the attention, but the happiness was far outweighed by disappointment. Inside, Kurt was fuming.

Blaine hadn't hugged him. Blaine had stood there looking positively bored as everyone else had showered him with praise. That wasn't even the worst part, though. During the song, right when he was about to give Blaine a seductive 'come hither' gesture, he had looked over and seen Blaine sitting relaxed with his eyed closed. He had given the gesture to someone else and increased his efforts. There was one word that NEVER described Kurt of Adam Lambert, and that was boring. No one would be falling asleep during his performance if he had anything to say about it.

Blaine had looked more interested when Kurt looked over later, but it still didn't seem like enough. Just what did Kurt have to do to get Blaine to be attracted to him?


	16. Tightrope

**So I wrote this in spanish class. I was bored. I awwwed when I wrote it, Kurt and Luce totally have a Mr. Schue/Beiste moment (think Never Been Kissed). It's adorable if I do say so myself. The second half was completely hijacked by the whole youtube thing. Sorry, it just ended up that way. Not sure if it's good but I awwed when I wrote the end too, so hopefully it is. It's really called 'Walking That Fine Line Between Friendship and Something More' I thought it was too long so I changed it.**

**Directions:**

**1. Enjoy this chapter.**

**2. Review it.**

**3. Read my other stories (especially Memories Make Dreams Make Memories- it's my favorite)**

**4. Review them**

**5. (extra credit)- Leave me a flame- go ahead, do it. I will give you a cookie.**

Kurt couldn't believe how glad he was that the meeting was over. He couldn't sit in that room avoiding  
Blaine's gaze any longer. Not without breaking down.

He raced down the hall still in his Adam Lambert inspired outfit, accumulating many shocked and stunned as well as slightly aroused looks. He normally would have found that flattering, but not now. He didn't even notice; tears were stinging at the backs of his eyes. He made it to his room without them spilling over, but once there he couldn't hold back anymore.

They ran down his cheeks as he let out an odd, strangled-sounding laugh. It was so stupid. He was so stupid. He had willingly gotten punched hard in the nose without crying only a month ago, and now he had dissolved into tears because his _crush_ didn't notice when he wore a sexy outfit. He felt so pitiful.

He heard a knock on his locked door and attempted to call out, "Who is it?" without letting the crying show in his voice. He failed miserably and hoped that, whoever it was, he wasn't someone who would spread rumors around. The last thing he wanted was for _everyone _in the whole school to know that he was crying alone in his room. He felt an immense relief when he heard the voice through the door.

"It's Luce."

Kurt walked up to the door and turned the lock, then yanked it open. He pulled Luce in by the front of his shirt. The light boy was startled by the sudden force on his body and fell into Kurt's room on top of him. Kurt untangled himself as quickly as possible and got up to shut the door, forgetting to lock it this time. He turned to look directly at Luce. Luce's eyes widened as he took in Kurt's own, which were a little red and puffy from the tears they were still releasing. That shock was replaced by a little concerned frown.

"I just knew something was wrong earlier in rehearsal. You were wearing a real smile after our _fabulous_ performance. Then all of a sudden you got that horrible fake one. When you ran out as soon as we were dismissed I knew it had to be serious. So tell me, what's up?"

"It's… It's so stupid. Idiotic, really," Kurt said with a bit of an attempt at a smile.

"I swear I won't think that it's stupid."

"It's just that he didn't notice," there was no need to explain who _he_ was, "I was so _sure_ I would get his attention in this outfit, with that song, but… he didn't even notice. I looked over while I was singing. I was going to beacon him- like this- and he was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed! He wasn't interested at all, not even enough to stay awake! He didn't even hug me like the others at the end."

Luce looked at him kindly and hugged him close, speaking in his ear.

"I know for a fact that's not true; no one could be disinterested in you. You're beautiful."

Kurt looked at him with pleading eyes, as if to ask, "Really?"

Luce nodded and Kurt relaxed, leaning in closer to the boy he considered to be his best friend. Mercedes held that title as well, but Kurt was glad it was Luce with him now. Neither was better or worse or held a bigger place in his heart, they were just… different. Different pain, different tonic. Luce was the one that he wanted and needed right now.

He laughed, just a little bitterly, as he spoke.

"I was hoping to snare him in and make him fall for me. I was hoping he'd ask me out and we'd go on a d-date on the 14th. Four days. Because, wouldn't it be so romantic? To have my very first date on V-Valentine's day. I was hoping to get a better option to consider as my first k-kiss…" Kurt trailed off, thinking, _no, fantasizing, it wasn't ever going to happen_, about a date with Blaine. He knew his face had adopted a kind of sad, forlorn look.

* * *

Luce gazed at Kurt, who looked so lonely, and his heart couldn't take it. He was trapped in that horrible situation when telling either of his friends, Kurt or Blaine, that they loved each other would have betrayed someone's trust, but he couldn't help just aching for them to realize it and move things along. He considered what he could possibly do for his best and first friend he'd ever had, and after a little came to a conclusion. His heart sped up at the thought of it.

He slowly leaned down towards Kurt, hesitating just inches from his face. He knew he was turning more than a little red, and Kurt began to ask, "What's wr-"

Luce cut him off as he pressed his lips lightly against Kurt's. There wasn't any spark and there weren't any wild urges, but it was nice. The kiss was just sweet and tender. Kurt's lips were unbelievably soft, and they moved against his own in a tingly, pleasant way. Their mouths opened just a little and Luce's heart rate sped the slightest amount more. His tongue lightly grazing Kurt's felt good too.

After a few moments Luce pulled back. Kurt didn't look disgusted or shocked, thank goodness, but a bit confused and slightly giddy.

"What was that for?" He asked.

"I was giving you a better first kiss, I hope!" Luce said, coloring his voice falsely with indignation. Then his tone softened, "You certainly gave me a nice one."

Kurt looked up at Luce, who was on his knees while Kurt was sitting on his floor. Luce who had just given up his first kiss to help a friend. Kurt sat up slowly and pressed his lips against Luce's warm cheek before whispering, "Thank you, it was wonderful."

The breath tickled Luce's ear.

* * *

Blaine knocked a staccato rhythm on Kurt's door, his fingers shaking ever so slightly. Half of him wanted to run back to his room, far away from any decisions or changes or vulnerability. He really wanted to. However, a more powerful and primal need demanded that he stay and wait for the door to open. He needed to say the words he was holding on his tongue and rolling around in his head, trying to make them smoother and more eloquent. There was no answer, but he could hear something from inside and rapped again, harder this time.

"Come in!" A voice he recognized as not Kurt's yelled from inside. Luce. Blaine swallowed the words he had been prepared to spout out and placed them prominently in his mind for later use. He walked into the room, at ease because he could avoid things that much longer.

Kurt and Luce were pressed close to each other on Kurt's bed, leaning over Kurt's laptop which was sitting on his lap. That little jealousy pang appeared, and Blaine suppressed it. If he knew what had happened earlier in the room, the pang would have been much larger and uncontrollable.

Kurt was in the middle and Luce on the left side of the bed, so Blaine walked around and sat on the right. He squeezed as close as he could to Kurt and marveled in the heat coming from the boy's skin. He wanted to touch him, to kiss those rosy and somehow plumper looking lips, but he was afraid of how Kurt would react after everything he had gone through at his old school. He would only ever take things slow with Kurt, if he got to be with Kurt at all. _Please, let me be with Kurt, _He threw the prayer out to whatever deity could hear him.

Of course, his face showed none of the turmoil that existed within his heart. He simply smiled and asked, "What are you guys looking at?"

"Well…" Kurt started off with an exasperated-but-not-really kind of drawl, "apparently someone at McKinley was a fan of mine and decided to dedicate a YouTube channel to my exploits. We were just going through the videos seeing what they posted."

"The next video is 'single Ladies.'"

Luce looked happy as he pointed it out, and asked Kurt which version it was.

Kurt mumbled the answer, almost to himself, "It should be the football one, more widely available. I hope."

Luce clicked the play button and Kurt as well as two girls Blaine recognized at Brittany and Tina appeared wearing leotards. Not that he was paying attention to that; he was entirely concentrated on the figure between them. It was Kurt Freakin' Hummel, looking sexy as hell in a sparkly black unitard.

Kurt was freaking out at what was apparently not the football video and attempting to block the screen with his hands. Blaine captured one of them in his own without breaking eye contact with the figure on the screen. He was vaguely aware that Luce had taken control of Kurt's other hand.

At the end of the video, Luce let go of Kurt's hand to go to the next one. Blaine kept the one he possessed tight in his grip, loving the feeling of the soft skin against his guitar-calloused fingers. It was heavenly, and he learned a lot about Kurt from watching those videos. He felt like he knew what Kurt had been through and how he had grown because of it better now, because Kurt was a singer first and foremost. Those songs were his emotions.

Luce and Kurt also talked about the stories behind each video, usually laughing, which made Blaine aware of them too.

"Push It"

Kurt groaned again in protest which was a sure sign it was going to be good. However, as soon as the video began Blaine had to agree. Those little hip thrusts at the beginning were getting to him, and he felt sure Kurt would feel his skin warming. Only a few layers of cloth separated them. He also got a bit jealous seeing Kurt slap Finn's butt, knowing that Kurt had been in love with him last year.

"Defying Gravity"

Kurt looked a little mortified at this, but Luce pressed play anyway. Blaine couldn't see why until the end. It had been going perfectly, beautifully, but Kurt didn't hit the highest note. Blaine looked at him, and he said, a little bit teary, "My dad got a phone call saying his son was a fag. It shook him up, and I knew if I sang a girl's song in front of everyone it would get worse, so I did what I could. I blew the note." Blaine just sat with his mouth open and Luce was the one comforting Kurt, hugging him close. Blaine felt almost intrusive in their moment, and hated that feeling.

"Can't Touch This"

Blaine was just… In a library? Really? And what the _hell_ was Kurt wearing?

"Don't Cry For Me Argentina"

Blaine was going to kill someone for recording a Warbler's rehearsal, but the song tuned out to be Kurt singing with Rachel at his old school. Kurt smiled sweetly at the memory; Blaine pieced together that it was because it was the start of a new, nicer Rachel.

"There's a Light" "Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch-a Touch Me" and "The Time Warp"

Blaine mentioned that he hadn't seen Rocky Horror, eliciting gasps from both Kurt and Luce. After the videos, he decided he definitely had to. He just wished Kurt had had a bigger part, something like... Frank-N-Furter? He would look great in those clothes…

"One of Us"

The song was great, but Blaine wasn't religious and he had never seen Kurt perform so lifelessly. Kurt was tearing up again and this time Blaine managed to put a supportive hand on his back along with Luce.

"Bad Romance"

Blaine wondered how exactly Kurt could pull off any look, ever. He also wondered how he could possibly walk in those ridiculous heels.

"Pink Houses"

Kurt buried his face in his hands. After it started, Blaine took back what he thought about any look. Trucker wasn't good. But… it was kind of growing on him. Kurt's voice also sounded nice that low, his future Warbler council member mind working. _And when it goes all hoarse like that_… a more devious part of Blaine's mind chimed in and made Blaine think of what exactly he could do to make Kurt's voice hoarse like that again.

"To Sir, With Love"

It was adorable and a little heartrending, Blaine thought. He saw once again how familial New Directions was, and felt sad that Kurt had to leave them. He was so glad that Kurt was honest about who he was now, and silently thanked Mr. Schue along with the other glee club's members.

"4 Minutes" and "Celine Dion Medley- French"

Wow. Blaine couldn't imagine singing like that and also moving like that at the same time. It wasn't possible. How was Kurt even that flexible? What Blaine could imagine, now that he had seen it, was Kurt in a cheerleading uniform, and he was going to be imagining that and fantasizing about it for a while.

"Jump"

It was entirely too not-centered-on-Kurt for Blaine's liking, but two things made it all worth it. First was the sight of Kurt in those blue pajamas with his hair messed up. Second was that beckoning gesture he made running backwards between the mattresses. Blaine's heart did an aerial back flip out of excitement. Kurt and Luce were decidedly less vocal than they had been at the beginning of the "Kurt Hummel Marathon" they were watching

"Le Jazz Hot!"

It was wonderfully done, and Kurt looked proud when it came up. Still, after hearing the circumstances behind it Blaine couldn't help feeling a little bit sad and wishing he was there to sing a duet with Kurt.

"A House Is Not a Home"

Kurt looked embarrassed, well as though he might slap himself actually, and Blaine could barely stand looking at the video. Kurt's eyes were filled with such untainted, puppy-dog love for Finn that it hurt. Kurt was amazing as always, but Blaine was very glad when this song ended.

"Happy Days Are Here Again/ Get Happy"

It was just Blaine's opinion. The song wasn't theatrical or showy, and Kurt didn't get to dress up in any ridiculous costumes. But, he seemed happier, singing that song with Rachel, than he had during "Le Jazz Hot!" Kurt's slight, secretive smile next to him and the tightening of Kurt's grip on Blaine's hand seemed to point in Blaine's favor.

Kurt and Luce both looked like they were half-asleep. Blaine realized it was late, but still felt the need to finish all the videos. He could have gone back to his room, but he was warm right next to Kurt and didn't want to move at all.

"Mr. Cellophane"

Blaine was shocked at how bad it was. The Kurt he knew would die if he sand that way. Still, it was rather endearing and a sleepy Kurt next to him mumbled something about being nervous for that one.

"Rose's Turn"

Blaine could feel the emotions in the song, the anger Kurt was feeling evident. The almost asleep boy beside Blaine balled the hand Blaine wasn't holding into a fist/

"I Want to Hold Your Hand"

For this song, Blaine both knew the story behind and could feel the emotion. He thought of Kurt, mother dead and dad in the hospital, and almost cried. The sleepy form of Kurt has silvery tears marks running down cheekbones.

The videos were finally finished, and both Kurt and Luce were very much asleep. Kurt's hand was folded inside Blaine's, so Blaine used his other to lift the laptop gingerly off Kurt. He closed it and checked that Kurt's alarm was set for bright and early before snuggling closer to Kurt and his warmth.


	17. Congrats

**I'm sorry I took so long writing this. I'm just not into this chapter very much. I don't know why because I thought it would be one fo my favorites, but I just didn't like writing it. Hopefully it will be more fun to read than to write. Maybe I just don't like it because I enjoy writing angsty stuff, even though I like reading funny, fluffy fanfics (alliteration FTW). meh. I will be adding a new character soon to spice things up and make Luce a little happier, if you catch my drift. Look forward to it. I think he's awesome even though I havn't actually written anything with him yet. Also, you maybe could tell by the name 'Lucian,' but I have a thing for weird names. Concider yourself warned.**

**Now, **

**Enjoy ( even though I didn't really.)**

Blaine woke up before the alarm went off. He felt very… warm, but he couldn't move the left side of his body at all. He opened his hazel eyes.

Kurt's head was pressed against Blaine's chest, and the boy's arm was wrapped tightly around Blaine's waist. One of each of their legs were twisted up together as well. Luce was snuggled up close to Kurt's back. Their fingers were still entwined.

Blaine moved his head around without shifting the weight on his body to look at the clock. He had a good thirty minutes left before the alarm went off, and he was going to make the most of it. He stroked his unencumbered hand gently through Kurt's soft hair, so different from his own curls now falling out of the usually tight hold he kept them in. He then lightly placed the hand on Kurt's hip, careful not to wake him, and set about enjoying and memorizing the feeling of Kurt's warmth tingling against his body with his eyes closed. He drifted in that drowsy in-between state, where he didn't know what was reality and what was but a dream.

* * *

Kurt awoke to the obnoxious beeping noise. _Oh, my alarm._ He felt the bodies squashed against his own and looked around with sleepy worry and concern before the memories came flooding back to him. He looked upwards, which was actually horizontally given the fact that he was lying down on his side, and saw that Blaine was staring at his face. He suddenly became self-conscious and tried to assess how his face looked. Did he have red fabric lines on his cheek? Did he have sleep(those mucusy things) in his eyes? And- god forbid since he was sleeping on Blaine's chest- did he drool? Luce was rubbing his eyes groggily. All three smiled at each other and returned to their respective rooms to get ready for school.

They met up again in Kurt's room, since he took the longest, and walked down to breakfast together. Kurt could still feel the shadows of Blaine's fingers wrapped around his hand, though they had separated. He craved for those spaces to be filled with calloused fingers again; they felt empty now.

They went to sit at their regular spots, and at once were confronted by Wes, who stood up before speaking in a loud voice.

"Kurt! I went into your room to borrow your French homework last night! Sleepover, ladies?" He asked with a smirk. Kurt was still a little bit too asleep to deal with teasing, and he snapped back with the sarcastic tone he usually reserved for the more Neanderthal-like McKinley jocks, equally as loud as Wes.

"No, Wes, it was a threesome. I would've invited you, but I didn't think you'd be up to par."

He glanced pointedly at Wes's black uniform pants before sitting down and eating his larger-than-usual breakfast. He, Luce, and Blaine had all missed dinner last night which, judging by everyone's reactions to the sarcastic statement he had just made, had not been the best idea. Focused on his meal as he was, Kurt didn't notice the staring for a minute or two before he decided to look up.

Wes was staring at him with eyes lit up from laughter but also looked slightly insulted. He was just going to have to deal with it. At least he got that Kurt's comment was supposed to be funny, which apparently didn't register to the rest of the people in the room. Luce and Blaine knew the statement wasn't true, so their shock was probably just from his excessive sarcasm. _I guess I haven't had the opportunity so break out my sarcasm lately, so they haven't heard it. _With them, it was already wearing off. For everyone else…

Kurt groaned. His voice had been dripping with sarcasm; how could they all be staring at him like that? Didn't rich boys understand sarcasm? Didn't they have important parties and small talk and such things to teach it to them? Did he really have to explain this to them? _Really? REALLY? I don't even…_

"Guys," He said in a carrying voice, with more than a little impatience, "It's a joke. It's called sarcasm." Kurt liked an audience as much as (or rather more than) the next person, but not when he was starving and about to eat breakfast.

Not one person looked convinced, and when the rest of the far too nosy students turned their gazes back to their own food and their friends, conversation took place in excited whispers more than normal talking. A rumor had just been started, and it was entirely Kurt's fault. Actually, it was a little bit Wes's fault, but Kurt squashed the snide part of his mind that pointed that out.

"I'm so sorry," Kurt apologized profusely to the other two people involved in the rumor. "This will be spread around the whole school by lunchtime."

"I don't mind," Blaine reassured him in his friendly-mentor-voice. "It's not true and the rumors always pass soon enough."

"Until last month I ignored everyone and they ignored me, what do I care if they are whispering things about me?" Luce chimed in his own brand of slightly heart rending reassurance. Even Wes decided to offer his support in his own humor style, one which apparently existed in abundance though he had been dead set against displaying it when Kurt first transferred.

"One time during freshman year, David and I had just started rooming with each other after my first roommate left," Wes said, nodding towards the boy who was currently engrossed in a book and not paying attention. "We started arguing about his shower habits and somehow everyone came to the conclusion that we were 'together.' Honestly, just because I suggested that I might have to join him if he refused to make it shorter…"

Kurt looked at him in slight disbelief.

"What? It was the only way we would have both gotten to class on time! I'm not sure what he was doing in there for forty-five minutes when he doesn't even have any hair to wash…" A light came on somewhere in Wes's brain and he suddenly punched David's shoulder, causing him to look up from his book and actually pay attention.

"Oh! Why else would boys take long showers? I know what you were doing; you were m-"

Wes winced, and Kurt assumed that David had kicked his shin. David glanced around, worried.

"Shut up," He said in his soft, kind voice that contradicted the words he was speaking. "They are probably already re-starting the rumors about us being a couple; we don't need whatever twist they could put in the story if you mention _that._"

Kurt could feel his smile growing and laughed. He noticed David never denied it. This school was better than his glee girl gossip network. Heck, it was better than a tabloid, and managed it without even having any girls.

* * *

All day, he had been getting wolf-whistles and smirks as he walked down the hallways. In class, he got notes on his desk asking, "Did you film it?" and "Why didn't you invite me?" The rumor had spread to the teachers as well, and most of them grinned at Kurt, though some of them had undertones of concern or trepidation. He was asked by various peers if he was alright, how Blaine and Luce were (he assumed as partners and not physically or emotionally), and if he was "getting any" tonight.

He could feel the sarcasm, his natural defense mechanism, building up inside him and he resisted the urge to spit, "O, Blaine was just wonderful. You should try him sometime," out of his acid mouth. He knew the sarcasm would be lost on his classmates, and it would just fuel the rumors.

Strangely, he never considered all that a breach of the zero-tolerance no-harassment policy. It felt so different from the daily torture he went through at McKinley that he couldn't even compare the two. There was no hate in the actions. No one called him a fag or a homo and no one made him feel unsafe. It was just… fun. It was a group of teenage boys stuck, for the most part, for much of the year in a private school and trying to find ways to break the monotony.

Kurt was completely fine with it, though he couldn't honestly say it wasn't annoying after the first few hours. He had more pressing things to consider anyway.

XXXXX

Blaine was once again knocking on Kurt's door, though this time it was more impatient. He couldn't wait much longer, or the dread might overtake his determination. He had put it off yesterday due to Luce's presence, but he couldn't refrain from this any longer without losing his nerve altogether, and he needed a definite response. He needed to know whether he should kill his feelings or act upon them, because they were too strong for him to be stuck in purgatory like this.

"Get some!" one of the other boys on the hall yelled at him with a teasing smile. Blaine had been getting similar comments all day and assumed that Kurt and Luce had as well. They were all Dalton boys, and this was the usual Dalton humor at anyone and everyone's expense.

Then his heart stopped. Kurt, no matter how much he looked the part now, _wasn't _a Dalton boy. He was still a transfer student, and he had transferred because of bullying and sexual harassment. If those comments weren't sexual harassment, Blaine didn't know what was.

_What if? What if? _The questions raced through his mind. What if Kurt was hurt by the comments? What if Kurt felt like his safe haven had disappeared? What if he was afraid? What if he wanted to leave? What if he was crying in his room?

Blaine's mind was gripped with fear that Kurt had taken the not-so-innocent humor as something much worse. He was so frightened that Kurt wouldn't feel safe anymore, and even more afraid that he would leave. He knew he couldn't take it if-.

Kurt opened the door looking perfectly fine, while Blaine looked panicked enough to cry. He quickly tried to organize himself into a semblance of calmness and cursed inwardly. Perhaps his family and friends were right and he did over think things.

Apparently he didn't mask his expression fast enough, because Kurt noticed and asked, "Blaine, what's wrong?" with concern lighting his eyes.

Luckily he had only seen a flicker and Blaine managed to convince him with a cheery, "Nothing!" and an aura of calmness.

"Then… What's up?" Kurt asked inquisitively, probably wondering why Blaine was standing outside his door for no apparent reason. It wasn't like they had any more embarrassing videos of him to look at.

"Can I come in? I have some stuff I need to talk to you about," Blaine said, already halfway inside the doorframe.

"Uh, sure?" Kurt said, his voice more a question than a confirmation and burning with curiosity.

They went inside and both sat on Kurt's bed. Blaine began in safe waters, though he was aching to just blurt everything out.

"You've been getting bothered by everyone today too, right? Don't mind everyone. They're just having a little bit of fun. They-"

"I know they mean well. It's a little annoying, but it doesn't actually bother me that much. What kind of person would I be if I denied them their fun? I prefer it a lot to being thrown into dumpsters, slushied, and shoved against lockers." Kurt laughed lightheartedly, and Blaine reconsidered his earlier thought. Perhaps Kurt was already a Dalton boy. _Of course he is. Kurt was born to shine anywhere. _

Kurt's smile made his dimples show and his laugh brought a slight flush to his face, like a porcelain doll. Blaine wanted to caress those soft, living cheeks and explore that creamy skin with his hands while doing the same to those plump, delectable lips with his tongue. He wanted contact, any contact.

Blaine settled for something simple and placed his hand on top of Kurt's as he had the night before. Kurt suddenly burst into tears.

He was obviously not fine as he tried to convince Blaine otherwise, saying, "It's nothing; it'll stop in a second. I'm fine. Really. I promise."

Blaine was filled with undirected anger at whatever was upsetting Kurt, yelling, "No it's _not_ fine! You're crying! Was it someone at this school? What did they do? I'll kill-"

But Kurt's next words cut him off. In fact, they left him unable to speak.

"It's you! You are the reason I'm crying! You are so damn inconsistent. Why do you keep doing this to me?"

Blaine just looked at him in shock and pulled his hand away from Kurt's as he continued on what was obviously a long-buried rant.

"You keep sending me these mixed signals, and it's destroying me! You don't pay any attention to me, but then you grab my hand like it's the most natural thing in the world. Yesterday during my audition you looked like you were practically asleep when I thought that my outfit would make _any_ gay guy fall for me. Then yesterday night you held my hand all night even when we fell asleep! It made me hope again, and all I wanted to do when you let go of my hand was have you hold it again. It's like I can feel the places where your fingers are supposed to be!

"Today you came to my door looking all serious and worried and a small, hopeful part of my brain that I couldn't crush thought: Maybe he's going to tell me he likes me! But no, you just wanted to ask me if I was ok! Then you took my hand again and it felt like the world was somehow _right_ when out hand met, but you did it so casually! It's always been like that, since the day first we met when you grabbed my hand and ran down the hall with me! So, stop! Stop confusing me and tearing my heart apart, because that's what if feels like when I experience all these up and down emotions!

"I keep telling myself not to like you, but I can't help it! If you can't return my feelings then stay the hell away from me because I can't take this anymore!"

* * *

Blaine was looking at Kurt glassy-eyed, with disbelief sketched clearly across his face. Kurt immediately regretted his angry confession; especially the last part.

"No. I didn't mean that. Please stay my friend when you reject me," He pleaded with fear in his voice. He didn't want to lose Blaine's friendship even if it did mean the torture of being around him all the time without him being Kurt's. Even if it meant watching him get another boyfriend. Glass eyes stared back, but finally Blaine responded.

"You… you l-like me?" He asked, his voice shaking audibly. He broke out into relieved laughter.

Kurt was annoyed in spite of himself. It was all he wanted for Blaine to not go running from his room, so he didn't see why it would annoy him that much, but it did. Hearing laughter was somehow worse.

"It's not funny!" He snapped maliciously. Blaine seemed to realize Kurt was upset, because he started to apologize, though he was still laughing throughout it.

"I'm sorry, you're right. It's stupid of me, I'm just… You like me? Are you sure?"

Kurt nodded angrily.

"Well I guess I was worried for nothing then. I came in here to tell you that I'm in love with you and to ask you out!" He put his hand back over Kurt's.

Kurt felt a million different things all at once. Most prominent was an overwhelming ecstasy that filled his whole body. He felt it in the tips of his fingers all the way down to the ends of his toes and everywhere in between. It was that _right_ feeling he got when Blaine took his hand, intensified and running through his whole body. Underneath it, the next most prominent feeling was relief, and coupled with the joy it caused Kurt to join Blaine in his laughter.

Laughing together somehow intensified the humor of the situation, and both Kurt and Blaine were giggling on the floor. Eventually the laughter ran out and they just lay there staring at each other. There was gravity in the atmosphere as well as comfort with each other. Neither of them felt the need to say anything, and neither wanted to break the pleasant silence with coarse words.

Finally, Kurt's cell phone alarm went off, and he sat up, the moment broken.

"Oh crap, dinner."

"Yeah we should probably go to that. Don't want to give them any ideas like we did last night, do we?"

"By the way, when were you planning on taking me out?"

"Well, I was thinking that next Monday would be nice…"

Valentine's day! Kurt's inward cheesy romantic sighed at how perfect that would be. A wide smile spread across his face.

Blaine saw the smile and matched it with one of his own; he offered Kurt his hand and Kurt grabbed it tightly, then they set off towards the dining hall.

* * *

Luce knew something had to be up when Kurt and Blaine walked in holding hands and looking like twin Cheshire cats. He was sitting next to Wes, who had David on his other side. All three looked up as Kurt and Blaine approached.

"You guys are finally together, huh?" Luce asked, smiling, and Kurt looked so happy that he was about to jump out of his skin.

"Yep!"

"Wait, weren't they already together? Weren't they doing a threesome with Luce yesterday?" David chose this moment to chime in.

"No, David, that was just a joke," Wes sighed as he explained, "Anyway, congrats you two."

_Honestly, _Luce thought,_ For a boy who reads so much, David sure is an idiot._

"So when's the first date?" Luce asked

"Valentine's Day," Kurt said, and Luce knew immediately why Kurt was so excited. It was like his dream date. This apparently reminded Wes of his own plans for the holiday.

"Guys! Well, especially Kurt. What should I get my girlfriend for a present? If I get her something good she might let me get to second base!"

Luce was prepared for the awful pang of jealousy he got whenever he pictured Wes with a girl, but it never came. Kurt shot him a pity-filled glance before sitting down and asking Wes a plethora of questions about the girl, most of which he couldn't answer.

Luce searched himself for the feeling, wondering where it had gone. Where was the joy he felt everyday upon seeing Wes? Where was the pathological need to see him smile? Where was the desire to feel his body heat, just a few inches away, every opportunity he got to sit next to him? It was all gone. That deliriously happy, madly-in-love boy Kurt had walked in on a few days ago no longer existed, leaving Luce to question whether the feeling was ever real at all. How could something he'd felt so strongly, and for so long, just vanish?


	18. Not Forever

**This chapter was extremely easy for me to write, a contrast from the last one. Probably because Blaine isn't in it. It doesn't need any fluff or sexual tension. It also has a lot of dialogue, which probably also made it easier. This chapter just ended up being about Kurt and his family (I thought he hadn't really talked to them in a while), and is pretty funny if I do say so myself. Tell me what you think.**

**Please Review**

**Enjoy :)**

**Update: So I was reading this after I got back from district band and I was like "Oh crap the superbowl was a week before this!" So I changed the ending. :(**

Kurt had to go home for the weekend, though he wanted more than anything to stay at school. School was, after all, where Blaine was. So it was with much inward lamenting that Kurt walked out the door of the dormitory with Pavarotti's cage in one hand and keys in the other, his Vera Bradley duffle bag slung over his shoulder. It was the "Twirly Birds Navy" pattern which, along with the "Baroque" pattern, was one of the few he could actually stand. The rest looked like something threw up pink flowers all over them.

He had told everyone goodbye earlier, and couldn't help himself from turning around to stare longingly at Blaine's window. Two days never seemed like such a long time as they had in that moment. Kurt considered running back, grabbing Blaine and dragging him home with him, but banished the urge from his mind. He had a feeling that asking his father if a boy could spend the night might prematurely broach the "boyfriend" topic. Kurt wasn't quite sure what Blaine was, actually. They had both professed their love to each other, but hadn't even been on a date yet. Labels could wait until later.

He got into his car slowly and drove away, blaring his Lady Gaga playlist to try and drive thoughts of how he wasn't going to see Blaine for two whole days from his head. He couldn't do it, and instead turned his thoughts to _why_ he missed Blaine so much already.

He'd been in love with Blaine since well before Christmas, so why was it only affecting him now? He never felt this way any of the other weekends when he was going to be away from Blaine; he barely noticed. It was like once he actually had Blaine, it was that much more painful to let him go. This train of thought carried him until he finally arrived at his house and walked in the door.

"I'm home!" He shouted, but only got one voice in response. Carole walked up the stairs from the basement with a basket of laundry in her hands, which she promptly dropped. She pulled Kurt into a tight hug.

"Kurt sweetie, I'm so glad you're here! Your dad went into work because one of the guys at the garage called in sick and Finn is at Sam's house playing video games, so it's just you and me for a while."

"Carole, it feels like I haven't seen you in forever! But… I kind of promised Mercedes that I'd take her shopping when I got back. Sorry, it's just going to be you." Kurt felt heartbroken as her face fell, but he had already made plans. What could he do?

He hugged her once again went downstairs to unpack his stuff. He organized it as best he could, being a bit of a neat freak, and called Mercedes.

"Kurt!" she yelled, joy evident in her voice as she practically screamed his name. It was necessary; a background of yelling, screaming, and blaring music was what her voice was trying to outdo.

"Mercedes!" he said back loudly. She probably couldn't hear him very well, "I'm sorry but I think I need to cancel our shopping date today! Something came up! Where exactly _are_ you, anyway?"

"Oh! Well, Tina dragged the Glee girls to a concert. It's one of her Goth bands. She even lured Lauren here with the promise of chocolate. I… well, I…" She repeated, sounding slightly sheepish, "I sorta forgot we had plans today. I'm sorry. At least now you can do what you wanted to do, right?"

Kurt felt like he had been slapped hard across the face. By a hand with multiple rings. He couldn't believe she had the audacity to forget- _Oh wait, isn't this exactly what I did to her when I first met Blaine? Ouch, sorry Merce._

"Yeah, but there was something I wanted to tell you. It's kind of important," He said, trying not to feel disappointed. He had already made the decision to cancel anyway, what did it matter that she forgot?

"Then… tell me now. I have some things I wanted to tell you too, but I forgot all of them at the sight of Santana, Brittany, Quinn, and Lauren being taught how to head bang. Brittany is easily the best; she looks like she's being tasered."

He laughed out loud because he could picture it, thanks to a certain failed attempt at 'hairography.'

"Tell my Boo," he began, using his affectionate nickname for Brittany he had picked up during his Mellencamp phase, "and everyone else that I love and miss them."

"Will do. Now spill boy, what did you wanna tell me?"

"Blaine…"

"What _about_ Blaine?"

"He…"

"He what?"

"Stop it!" He could practically feel her smirk on the end of the line.

"Sure."

"He…"

"He?"

"Mercedes! He… he asked me out, ok! We have a date on Monday!"

"Good for you! Wait. He asked you out. Just now. Really?"

"Yeah?" He asked tentatively, without hearing the stairs creak in the background as someone went up them, just as he had not heard when someone went down.

"God, what have you two been doing for the past few months? Why didn't this happen earlier?"

"Well, I kinda like that it's now. I mean, my first date is going to be on Valentine's Day. Isn't it awesome?"

"I always knew you were a romantic at heart. Actually, I knew after I found those erotic 'bodice-ripper' romance novels set in the 1600s under your bed."

"The 1600s were a good time. Very fashionable," Kurt mused, before fully realizing what she had said. "Wait, you saw those?"

"Yeah. And you had some Japanese comic book things open on your computer when I went on it one time, so I flipped through a few pages. What exactly _was_ that and what were those two dudes doing?"

Kurt couldn't help it; he blanched. No one was supposed to know he read those. He had an image to keep up, and manga screamed 'loser' in a very nerdy way. He sighed. She's already seen it, so he figured that he'd better tell her.

"That is a type of manga- Japanese comic books- called yaoi or boys' love. And those 'two dudes' were probably having sex. That's, like, the whole point of yaoi," He explained.

"But why were you- Ohhhhhhh. Never mind," She said, as understanding flashed through her mind. Kurt knew she got it.

"It's not always drawn well and frequently not accurate, but it is pretty damn hot. You should try reading it sometime; it's written mostly for fan girls anyway."

"I'll pass."

"Come on Merce, you know you like gay boys. You had a crush on me once, remember?"

"Do NOT remind me. Worst moment of my life."

"All's well that ends well," He said cheerily. The music in the background suddenly increased in volume to its loudest point yet and made conversation next to impossible. "Bye, Mercedes! Skype you soon!"

"On Monday; I want to hear all about your date. Remember to call me if I need to cut somebody!"

"Okay!" He said, barely controlling his laughter though he knew she was at least partly serious. "Bye!"

"Bye darling! Say hi to Blaine for me!" She replied before she hung up. Kurt was left smiling into the suddenly and very noticeably quiet phone. Mercedes really knew how to cheer him up, without him even noticing she's doing it. He really missed her a lot.

He was still smiling when he walked upstairs a few minutes later.

* * *

"Hey, Carole! He called out as he reached the top, "Mercedes canceled!"

"Oh that's too bad, sweetie," Carole said, though her face was a lot brighter than before.

"Do you have anything you want me to do? It seems like the only chore I've done lately is making my bed and, quite frankly, I miss the work. It was very relaxing."

"I don't have anything for you to do at the moment, but- Oh! You can help me make heart-shaped cookies!"

"Cookies? And heart-shaped no less? What for?" He inquired.

"Mr. Schue proposed a bake sale to cover the cost of Regionals. Sounds familiar, right?" –Kurt nodded, remembering that week in which he had to spend all day in a wheelchair. It wasn't something one could easily forget- "Well, Santana was aiming for a kissing booth but got vetoed by Mr. Schue, which made him suggest they all sell hearts instead of kisses."

"So why are you making them, not my lovely step-brother? It's his glee club."

"You think I trust my son near an oven?"

"True. Anyway, this is fabulous. I have this old recipe of my mother's that I can pull out, it's delicious," Kurt realized what he was saying and searched for a negative reaction in Carole, but couldn't find one. He was glad his insensitivity went unnoticed. They walked into the kitchen while they were chatting.

"That would be great! Do you know where it is?"

"Of course I know where it is!" He laughed and tapped his head, then went around pulling out ingredients. She looked at him questioningly, and he tried to find the right words to explain.

"After my mom… passed, I had to learn to cook or settle on takeout and breakfast foods. Do you know how many calories are in sausage, bacon, and eggs? A lot. So, I was getting fairly proficient at that when one day Dad said he missed Mom's cookies more than anything," He chuckled because he was already telling the punch line to himself in his head, though the story didn't yet sound comical.

"Being the good little boy that I was, I took that comment as a test of my baking skills and a chance to make my dad happy and bond with him. A chance to make him proud of me. I dug the recipe out and waited until he left for work one day that I didn't have school. You see, I wanted to surprise him with the cookies. Anyway, I found out that the oven was too much for me to handle. I left the cookies in too long and they caught on fire.

"I didn't know what to do- I was scared, but tenacious enough to want to finish baking. Luckily, the fire alarm went off. The station is just down the road, you know, and the truck was here in about two minutes, which seemed like hours to me. Once they got here, the firefighters tried to drag me out of the house but I was having none of it. Being a drama queen even at that young age, I sat on the ground and hsaid I wouldn't move until I got the recipe. One of the firefighters went to grab it for me.

"It was smoldering at some of the edges, but he put it in front of me after he got me safely out of the house while others handled the fire. It was slowly burning up, but I sat there staring at it until it was all gone, in the process memorizing it. Dad appeared a few seconds later, distraught, because a neighbor had informed him that fire trucks were at his house. He scooped me up in a tight bear hug and said, 'I'm so glad you're safe,' to me. It was one of the few times I have ever seen Dad cry.

"Of course, I chose that minute to burst out in tears. Dad was frantic and asked me what was wrong, but all I said was, 'I didn't get to finish baking the cookies!' He smiled and hugged me again, telling me to never ever bake without him there ever again. Several repaired cabinets and one new stove later, Dad and I baked our first ever batch of cookies together, using the recipe I had memorized. They were delicious, and I was naturally very pleased with myself, all past mistakes forgotten. I was even more pleased when he said they tasted just like Mom's used to."

Kurt finished the story with a soft chuckle that didn't sound right, somehow. It was then that he realized tears were running down his cheeks.

"Ah, crap."

He felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist, and he looked a few inches downward to see Carole hugging him tightly. If he had a trickle of tears leaking out, she had a torrent. He didn't think he'd ever seen anyone cry so much. He wrapped his arms loosely around her and marveled at how she felt. Every time he hugged her, but this one more than usual, she felt very… mom-ish. Having a mother figure hugging him was something Kurt hadn't felt in a very long time. He was glad that he'd decided to stay home, never mind the fact that Mercedes didn't remember their plans.

* * *

Finn had driven home wondering how Sam could possibly have beaten him that badly. Weren't blondes supposed to be stupid? Kurt had always insisted that he dyed his hair. Regardless, Sam was definitely hiding a geeky, nerdy gamer inside himself somewhere or he couldn't be that good. Not at every single game they played. He'd even outstripped them all at Mario Kart, and the only person who does that is the person who practices by themselves for a long time. Suspicious.

All these thoughts vanished, however, when he noticed the black car in the driveway. _Kurt's car, _his mind registered. Then came an annoyingly high pitched squeal of, _Kurt's home! _that he really couldn't condone, even in his inner voice. He raced inside to crush his step-brother in a bear hug, but stopped dead when he walked into the kitchen. Kurt and his mom were _crying_ and hugging.

"Who died?" He asked, getting an icy-cold glare from Kurt for the comment. His mom released Kurt from the hug.

"Oh, is Burt ok? I didn't mean-" He said backtracking.

"Dad is perfectly fine, thank you for asking, but you ruined a very nice moment there," He snapped at Finn, who had stopped listening at "fine" and was now eying the sugar on the counter with speculation, "and- FINN HUDSON IF YOU SO MUCH AS LAY ONE FINGER ON MY COOKIE INGREDIENTS OR THE FINISHED PRODUCTS I WILL CASTRATE YOU!"

"I don't think I'd let you. Who knows what you'd do with it once you cut it off!" Finn taunted lightheartedly.

"Need I remind you that I am sleeping in the same room with you tonight?" Finn could feel himself paling a little. "And you, my friend, are a very heavy sleeper. Understand? Good. Now go rot your brain with some sports on the TV."

Finn didn't have to be told twice, and he raced into the other room and flicked on the TV with the remote. After, of course, capturing Kurt in one of the hugs he had perfected- tight enough to make the person being hugged complain about breaking without actually breaking them.

He flipped through the channels and found nothing worth watching, so he settled on something he'd never have been caught dead watching half a year ago. It was a re-run of _Project Runway_.

He wasn't a fanatic like Kurt, but he still found it pretty interesting to watch every now and again. He learned about a hundred new fashion terms every episode he saw, and found that he could sometimes understand Kurt when he talked about clothes. He sometimes had to remind himself not to use the words at school. Every time Mercedes would comment on some girl's outfit being jacked up, he had the urge to suggest that maybe she was just going for an _avant-garde _look. The episode he had tuned featured a challenge to design a male look, and Finn was _almost_ upset that all those clothes would look good on Kurt but not on him. He wasn't called frankenteen for nothing.

He was still watching the channel, which apparently had a marathon on, several hours later. The kitchen was full of quite a few batches of cookies and the air smelled wonderful. He was starting to get hungry, well, hungrier, when the door opened. A new scent hit his nose, and he recognized it immediately. Chinese food.

Strong arms wrapped around him for half a second before pulling back. It was a fatherly, feeling he didn't know, and he wanted more of it. The voice belonging to the arms mumbled a, "Sorry, I thought you were Kurt."

"And why would you think I was that hobbit?"

"You were lying down, so I couldn't see how tall you were. You are also watching one of his all-time favorite shows, you know. And I thought they said it wasn't catching…"

"Shut up," Finn said, before jumping up, hugging Burt, and taking the take-out boxes from his hands.

"Thanks," he said, outwardly for the food but inwardly for the hug, "I love Chinese food."

He ran into the kitchen with Burt following, to find his mom and Kurt chatting animatedly at the table with the most delicious-looking cookies Finn had ever seen in front of them. He reached for one, only to have his hand smacked away by Kurt without so much as a break in the conversation. As soon as he finished speaking, Kurt tuned around to assess the new additions to his kitchen. He rose saying, "Dad, you know Chinese is really bad fo-"

"Relax, kid. I ordered mine without sauce. That's like half the calories and two thirds of the sodium gone already! Besides, I got your favorite. Now get over here and give your dad a hug."

Kurt complied, and soon enough the cookies were moved to the counter and they were all sitting around the table eating. Conversations shifted from McKinley stories to Dalton stories to Burt's and Carole's lives. Most of the time, they all passed comfortably. There was only one exception.

"So, Kurt, got a boyfriend yet?" asked Finn, who had decided it was his duty to both protect and antagonize his brother. He was expecting a quick reply no and a glare, but the real reaction was much different than it had previously been. Kurt spit out about half of the water he'd been drinking and muttered something about not being in a committed, exclusive relationship yet.

Finn's eyes locked with Burt's across the table and knew they had the same instincts. Protect Kurt. Find out who the boy is. Kill him.

Finn decided a little interrogation was necessary. Neither he nor anyone else noticed his mother's knowing smile.

* * *

Kurt woke up to a heavy weight on his chest and a hand over his mouth. His first instinct was to scream, but the hand over his mouth made that a bit difficult. His eyes adjusted to the light and he started making out the shape of the person kneeling on him. Finn. Of course.

Finn took away his hand, and Kurt immediately threatened, "I'm going to tell Puck, Sam, Matt, and Artie that you jumped on top of me in bed."

"That would require you being able to get up to go tell them. And that isn't gonna happen unless you answer the questions I ask, truthfully."

"Fine, what is it?"

"Who's your boyfriend?"

"Really Finn? I said earlier I didn't have a-"

"You said that. But I don't think it's true. You better tell me who it is soon or I'll kiss you. How exactly would you explain to your guy that you made out with your straight former crush all night and slept in the same room as him?" Kurt felt Finn's face growing closer to his own for emphasis.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh yes I would." Finn leaned closer again; so close that his nose brushed against Kurt's. If this was a year ago, Kurt's heart would have been leaping out of his chest. As it was, he saw the lips and wondered why he'd ever liked the giant. Still, the lips grew even closer, and Kurt finally yelled, "Stop!"

"It's Blaine, ok?" He said irately, pushing Finn's face away, "He only asked me out yesterday, we're not really a couple yet. Calm down."

"I guess that's an acceptable answer," Finn said as he got off Kurt and his bed. "So when's the first date?"

"Monday," Kurt said, blushing in the darkness.

"Valentine's Day. Nice. Very romantic," Finn said, eliciting a snort from Kurt.

"What would you know about romance?"

"I was dating Rachel Berry. She requires many things of her boyfriends, including over-the-top romance." Kurt heard a creak as Finn got back in his own bed.

"True, she would try to force you to be romantic."

"That and I read those dirty romance novels you keep under your bed."

"OHMIGOD. How many people know about those?"

"Everyone who's come over to this house and been in your room, ever. So…"

"The entire Glee club? Great. At least it's not yaoi."

"What's yaoi?"

"Nothing. Do not under any circumstances look it up."

"I'll pretend that wasn't suspicious. Now I've met Blaine, but if he tries anything funny with you-"

"Finn you are not my father and I refuse to have that conversation with you. Goodnight."

"'Night. Use protection."

"FINN!"

* * *

The next day, Kurt relaxed and hung out with his family for most of the day and dealt with several innuendos from Finn that he didn't think the boy was capable of. He left just as Finn and Burt turned on the TV and began chanel-surfing in hope of finding some game of some sport. They eventually settled on a "World Series of Poker" show, which had to be the most boring thing ever to appear on TV, and were quite engrossed in the show. Even Carole was watching avidly, which was just so shocking to Kurt that he was going to banish the memory and pretend he didn't see his step-mom engrossed in a show where people did nothng but try to have as little facial expression as possible. He hugged his family who all had their eyes glued to the TV. Carole was first, and the only one to break contact with the TV long enough to actually wish him goodbye.

Finn said, "I'm totally looking up yaoi. How do you spell it? Bye bro," and Burt said, "We'll discuss this boyfriend thing next weekend, Kurt," both of which made Kurt cringe. Next weekend was going to be hell.


	19. A New Face

**6,000 words and I can't even get to the actual date yet. :P I'm such a failure. I guess everyone will just have to wait for the next chapter to see the big event.**

**Enjoy this stuff before the date and enjoy my new character.**

Kurt always felt a little bit homesick when he left his house. He missed his father, and, even though they were much more recent additions, he missed Carole and Finn. He missed Mercedes being only five minutes away when he needed her.

When he was home, however, he missed Luce, the Warblers that he was growing closer and closer to, and most of all Blaine. And he was certainly not missing anything by not watching that _thrilling_ poker tournament. His thoughts went more along that path as he got closer and closer to Dalton and his excitement grew. His head was filled with Blaine, and before he knew it he was humming old love songs he didn't know he remembered. Then he was singing them. By the time he walked in the doors of the dorm he was belting Van Morrison's "Moondance" at the top of his lungs

_**Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance**_

_**With the stars up above in your eyes**_

_**A fantabulous night to make romance**_

_**'Neath the cover of October skies**_

_**And all the leaves on the trees are fallin'**_

_**To the sound of the breezes that blow**_

_**An' I'm trying to please to the callin'**_

_**Of your heart strings that play soft and low**_

The common room wasn't full, but Kurt still had a sizeable audience as he walked in. Boys, many of them Warblers, were channel surfing, chatting, or looking at things on their laptops. They all looked surprised, because for some strange reason spontaneous singing outside of your own room wasn't condoned there, but Kurt was honestly past caring. He was filled with happiness at the thought of Blaine and his date tomorrow, and at the marvelous weekend he had just had, despite Mercedes forgetting him and everyone knowing he read trashy romance novels. Hell, he was just happy.

All this happiness was multiplied by the inherently happy nature of the song he was singing. It was the type of song that made you beam ear to ear when you sang it; it was the type of song that made you want to dance. Kurt pulled the nearest boy out of his seat.

_**And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush**_

_**And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush**_

_**Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?**_

_**Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?**_

_**Well, I wanna make love to you tonight**_

_**I can't wait 'til the morning has come**_

_**And I know now the time is just right**_

_**And straight in to my arms you will run**_

Wes was, naturally, surprised when Kurt grabbed his hands and yanked him up. He seemed amiable enough, though and allowed Kurt to string him along for a few seconds of dancing. Contradictory to the verse, he released Wes in a grand twirl, which Wes pulled off beautifully. Kurt went on has merry way, still dancing, and not caring at all that he'd just sang that he wanted to make love to Wes. He hoped Wes didn't care either.

_**And when you come, my heart will be waiting**_

_**To make sure that you're never alone**_

_**There and then, all my dreams will come true, dear**_

_**There and then, I will make you my own**_

As he danced down the hall, singing loudly but impeccably, many of the occupants were standing outside their rooms. Kurt suspected they had either heard the noise and were curious of had received cryptic texts telling them to come outside and watch Kurt. He suspected it was a pretty even mixture of both. He chose his next dance partner from among them.

_**And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside**_

_**And I know how much you want me that you can't hide**_

_**Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?**_

_**Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?**_

After he let go of that person, he pulled Luce into the center of the hallway and finished out the song with him, sometimes rubbing against each other in a way that the Warblers among the crowd that had gathered were used to but that made the other boys blush.

_**Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance**_

_**With the stars up above in your eyes**_

_**A fantabulous night to make romance**_

_**'Neath the cover of October skies**_

_**And all the leaves on the trees are falling**_

_**To the sound of the breezes that blow**_

_**And I'm trying to please to the calling**_

_**Of your heart strings that play soft and low**_

_**And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush**_

_**And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush**_

_**Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?**_

_**Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?**_

_**One more moon dance with you**_

_**In the moon light, on a magic night**_

_**All the moon light, on a magic night**_

_**Can I just have one more moondance with you, my love?**_

As the song ended, he dragged Luce into his room and shut the door behind him. He and Luce were both panting hard from the dancing. Luce sat down on the bed and smiled.

"What brought that on?" He asked.

"Nothing in particular, I was just happy. While I've got you in here, though, I need your help with something," Kurt said, resulting in a curious look from Luce. He had lied to his father; he didn't actually have any homework to do. For some reason the teachers appreciated the tacky, commercialized holiday that is Valentine's Day, and left their student time to spend with their significant others. Kurt was glad about this because he had something much more important than homework to do. He called Mercedes on Skype while Luce looked at him, still perplexed.

"Kurt!" She screamed excitedly when she appeared onscreen.

"Hey, Merce, how was the concert?"

"It was pretty good, actually, I even had to buy a- Oh, is that Luce? Hi, Luce!" She spotted him in the background.

"Mercedes!" He replied with a wave.

"Okay, now that I have you both here…" Kurt began, "… I need some help."

"With what?" Both of his best friends asked at the same time.

"Well, you both know how I am going on my first date with Blaine, my first date ever, tomorrow, right?"

"What about it?" Mercedes asked.

"What the hell should I wear?"

Mercedes and Luce shared a glance saying that they should've suspected that question, and both started thinking seriously. At least it looked like it was seriously.

Mercedes started laughing before she even said her suggestion.

"A loose, flowing while shirt with either a deep v-neck or that's completely open in the front. And make sure your hair is loose and flowing too."

"Mercedes!" Kurt exclaimed at her reference to the typical male hero in a romance novel. Luce looked a little confused, and Mercedes apparently felt the need to explain her comment.

"Kurt reads trashy bodice-ripper romance novels."

"I know; he brought his favorite ones here. They're under his bed. I just didn't know all the covers looked like that. I thought Kurt had a fetish for those shirts or something."

"What kind of friends are you? Why does everyone look under my bed?" Kurt cut in, half-angry and half-amused.

"Why do you hide dirty things under your bed? That's the first place people will look!" Luce retorted.

"That and in your browser history. Did you know Kurt reads gay Japanese porn comics?" Mercedes asked Luce.

"Yaoi? No I didn't, but I love that stuff. I can recommend some good ones if you want," Luce replied, looking at Kurt.

"You read it too?" Mercedes asked.

"Yeah."

Luce and Mercedes began debating the pros and cons of yaoi and then the internet before Kurt remembered why he was talking to both of them in the first place.

"Guys! GUYS!" He yelled, getting their attention, "We are supposed to be figuring out an outfit for me!"

"Oh, right."

Both of them began rattling off ideas which Kurt then tried on, but none of them were quite right. They were running out of ideas and patience at the end of one and a half hours. Suddenly Luce got a gleam in his eye.

"Wait right here, I've got an idea! Put on your Calvin Klein slim-fits! The white ones!" He yelled as he rushed out of the room. Kurt complied, picking the pants in question out of the closet and putting them on his slim frame in the bathroom. They were dress pants, not his usual skinny jeans, but they fit snugly and hugged all the right places. He'd forgotten he owned them because they weren't ostentatious like many of his other pieces of clothing, but he was glad Luce remembered them. He looked damn good in them.

Luce returned with a pretty sweater that looked expensive, though Kurt couldn't tell the brand.

"My aunt gave this to me last year for Christmas. I'm not really the sweater type so I never wore it, but it would look great on you," He said while holding it up to Kurt's shoulders.

Kurt grabbed it gently, reveling in the soft feeling of the fabric. He didn't really like sweaters with patterns on them, but this was an exception. It was a dark shade of purple with a pretty light gray design on the middle and the arms. Kurt instantly fell in love with it.

"What brand is this?" He asked, determined to get his own.

"It's Rag + Bone, a Chatsworth fair isle sweater. I'm not sure you can find them online anymore, but you can have this one."

"Really?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"Yeah, it's not like I'll wear it anyway."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The words rushed out of Kurt's mouth as he pulled Luce in for a crushing hug. He ran to go try on his new acquisition. He slipped the sweater in over his bare skin and once again admired the softness- it felt like he was wearing a hug. He admired himself in the mirror before going out to show Luce and Mercedes. It wasn't what he usually wore, but he looked damn sexy.

Mercedes wolf-whistled when she saw him and Luce looked him over appreciatively.

"I think we have a winner," Luce said as Kurt went to choose accessories. He eventually decided on a gray-and-black wool captain's cap that was positively adorable and a washed gingham scarf that complimented the sweater nicely. He felt immensely satisfied as he looked at himself in the full-length mirror on his wall. Then he looked at the clock and realized he and Luce were already five minutes late for dinner.

"Mercedes, thank you so much for your help! I love you! We have to go!"

"Bye Kurt, Bye Luce!"

"Bye Mercedes!" Luce said as he disconnected them.

Kurt took off his clothes and put on normal ones faster than he ever had before, still taking the time to fold his perfect outfit before racing towards the dining hall with Luce, hand in hand. Of course everyone was once again staring at him when he got there. He figured his impromptu concert and dancing had something to do with it this time. After he got his food and sat down, Blaine put his hand around his waist and pulled him a little closer so their sides were touching. It sent a tingly thrill through Kurt's body, and gave him the courage to place his hand in Blaine's knee and trace the inside of his leg with his fingers.

"So, I heard you sang Morrison without me. And one of his best songs, too. Although he has so many wonderful ones it's hard to pick which are the best."

"If I knew I was going to do it I would certainly have invited you. However, it was really sort of spontaneous. Wait- you're a Van Morrison fanatic?"

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?"

"No, it just doesn't seem to fit well with your more recent musical obsession."

"What are you talking about? Katy Perry and Van Morrison go perfectly together! And I am proud to call any boy who spontaneously bursts out into the songs of either two my boyfriend."

Kurt chuckled and started singing "California Gurls" under his breath, which made Blaine snort and throw back his head in laughter. The other occupants of the dining hall threw him some odd looks. Kurt was just appreciating the sexy tone of Blaine's laugh when he realized what Blaine had actually said.

"Are we?" He asked tentatively.

"Are we what?"

"Boyfriends?"

"Wasn't that the whole purpose of confessing our mutual love for each other and me asking you out on a date?"

"Yes, but we haven't even been on the date yet, so I didn't know if you considered me-"

"You are my boyfriend, Kurt, and I might get very upset if you say otherwise."

"Okay. Then you're mine."

Kurt smiled at the affirmation, pleased Blaine was also labeling him "boyfriend." He knew from the New Directions girls, Santana especially, that neither a date nor sex necessarily meant two people were going out. After all if it did then Santana would be going out with Brittany (not that he didn't think they would end up together eventually, but they were still denying it). He couldn't describe the feeling that washed through him when he thought of himself as Blaine's boyfriend; it was too wonderful for comparison.

* * *

Kurt went through the rest of the night and the first few classes the next morning in a stare of jittery anticipation mixed with euphoria. Naturally he couldn't pay attention in any of his classes, which was ok considering all the teachers had Valentine-themed lesson plans. Kurt was surprised at the amount of slack the Dalton students were given near the holidays, considering it was a private school with a mission statement that included striving for academic excellence, but he was grateful for it. He couldn't think about anything anyway.

Until he got the text.

It was fourth period, right before lunch, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out absentmindedly, wondering who it could be and assuming it was probably a "Good luck!" from one of the glee girls Mercedes had informed of his date. He experienced a mild shock when he saw the name _**Wesley**_ flash across the screen.

Wes almost never texted anyone. Not many students at Dalton did, actually. Why did they need to text when all their friends were in their classes or right down the hall? They had their phones with them, but actually talking was easier. Wes usually only sent out texts as a mass reminder to the Warblers that there was a rehearsal/impromptu concert hat they needed to attend, and there was no rehearsal on Monday. Kurt read the message, perplexed.

_**Emergency Warbler meeting directly after school today. Be there as soon as possible and be in uniform. That means you KURT.**_

Kurt felt annoyance at the first words he saw. Emergency meeting? What could possibly be important enough to call that on Valentine's Day? Didn't Wes have a date with his girlfriend to go on or something? This was going to seriously cut into Kurt's prep time. That last comment was really unnecessary, though. Like he would show his outfit to Blaine before the date.

He was so annoyed that he was tempted to show up in his underwear, just to spite Wes, but thought that if whatever it was they were doing was important enough to call an emergency meeting, it was important enough to follow the dress code. At least he hoped it was important. If it wasn't there would be hell to pay.

Awoken from his dreamlike state, Kurt spent the rest of the day wondering how much of his preparation time would be cut. He walked into the rehearsal room with a bit of a frown on his face, which changed to confusion as he saw most of the boys decidedly more excited than they were during the few emergency meetings Kurt had already experienced in his career as a Warbler. It didn't take long for someone to tell him why.

"We have another transfer student coming!" Nick said excitedly. "You won't be the new kid anymore!"

"And why exactly does this pertain to us?" Kurt said, secretly happy to have a fellow new student but at the same time still annoyed.

"Well, apparently his parents are _loaded_-" Kurt's heart sunk a little as he heard this. He was a little tired of being surrounded by kids from rich families all the time, "-and they tried to pay for his acceptance into the Warblers."

"Without even an audition?" Kurt said, indignant.

"Of course Wes put his foot down and said that the kid had to audition and could do it tomorrow during scheduled rehearsal. So they used their money to pay for an audition today so they could make sure he made it. Something about him needing a creative outlet, which means he's either painfully shy or problematic. I'm hoping for the second one."

"So the Dean just took the money and made us audition him today? That's not fair; what about my preparation time?"

"When you run a school, even one like Dalton, and you get offered that amount of money, you can't turn it down. I'm sure 30 minutes won't make you look any less fabulous for Blaine," Nick stated with an amused smile twisting the corners of his mouth.

Just then, Luce walked into the room and sat down beside Kurt, wondering what was going on. Kurt quickly filled him in on the situation. Luce was rather unimpressed with the news, since he still held onto the mindset that he couldn't get to know them anyway. It was completely untrue now, but some habits stuck from when Luce's father abused him.

Blaine entered the room with a few other stragglers and Nick got up from beside Kurt, looking back at him and smiling before moving all the way across the room. Blaine took the available seat and Wes stood up from between Thad and David and started talking.

"We have a new student auditioning for a spot in the Warblers. Try not to scare him off," He said, and a couple of the boys chuckled. Kurt knew they would be perfect gentlemen. Perfect, robotic, boring, gentlemen, but still.

Everyone was respectfully silent as two sets of footsteps echoed down the hallway. As a Warbler lead the foreign boy into the room, Luce perked of from his bored slouch and looked interested. Kurt knew why.

* * *

He wasn't sure why his parents were making him do this. He didn't want or need to be in a group like they seemed to think. He didn't need friends. They wouldn't even come close to feeling like his friends in his improv group, and they didn't turn out such good friends anyway. The ripping feeling he always got when he thought of them was a constant proof of that. Friends don't even say goodbye. They're pointless. They always took someone else's side.

He didn't want to join the Warblers. He didn't want to be made fun of for something like that. At least improv was enjoyable enough to be worth the bullying he dealt with for being in it. He seriously doubted those stiff Warblers at an all-boys school would be. He didn't have the will to fight his parents about this, though.

He _knew_ he was going to be made fun of. A no-harassment policy looks good on paper, but it doesn't do shit to protect people. It was going to be exactly the same as his old school, just costing more money and without Andy to help him deal with it. The name broke a healing rift in his heart and caused it to burn and bleed again, as it did every time he thought of it. Which was at least once every day. Not that its owner would even care.

He walked in to meet the nancy-boys he was sure the Warblers were, sing a mediocre song barely showcasing his talent, get reluctantly accepted, and prepare to be made fun of for the rest of his life. It was an inevitability.

He had a shell, a barrier that drove people away. It didn't work. The hair covering his eyes, the piercings, the eyeliner, and the black clothes kept most people away, the innocent ones, while merely making him more noticeable to the ones he wanted more than anything to avoid. It was his last day with a shield anyway, since he would be confined to a uniform and forced to take out his many piercings the next day for class.

He stepped into the large, brightly-lit room and was vaguely surprised by the number of people in it. He was used to any 'artsy' clubs scrambling for members. While some of the boys looked excited enough and all looked too stiff, none of them wore that desperate join-our-group-of-outcasts-we-need-members-and-friends look. They looked _normal_.

He scanned the room and saw that a council of three was in charge of the group as opposed to a teacher. He felt vaguely good about that, until he remembered the boys in charge were probably pricks. They looked normal, after all. To one side of them were two boys, a very pretty pale one with brown hair and blue-green-grey eyes and an olive-skinned handsome boy with beautiful hazel eyes. They were holding hands and casting blushing glances at each other, making him think that perhaps the members of the group weren't so normal after all.

He wasn't complaining; the less normal the nicer in his experience. But all thoughts vanished as soon as he saw who was next to the pair.

It was like a ray of sunshine had hit him when he saw the sandy hair and vibrant blue eyes, when he saw that bright smile. It didn't make him blush and warm as it would have made a normal person. Instead it burned him alive and rent him on two. He'd seen that smile and light before, in another place and time, and watched it burn out.

Andy had shone with the same light as this unknown boy did, and the blue eyes were replaced with green in his mind's eye. The face he saw caused an aching in his heart. It was a face he had hated more than any other, and it was the sole person he regretted leaving when he switched schools. It was the face of the person he had loved more than anything else in the world, and the face of the person who broke his heart. Not that he suspected Andy remembered any of that.

Andy hadn't even told him goodbye. His boyfriend of over two years, the one who he was head over heels in love with had shown him that love was indeed blind. He'd been oblivious to the fact that the pure sunshine was dying to be replaced by something more sinister. No, he'd chosen to ignore it. He'd ignored the fact that Andy was spending more and more time thinking of excuses not to go out, and less and less with him. Andy had ignored the bullying, the extra makeup to cover the bruises, his flinching whenever lockers slammed or someone touched him, and the joy fading from his eyes. The worst part wasn't being ignored. It was being told, instead of goodbye, that Andy could easily find another boy and already had several.

It was being slapped with the fact you're boyfriend was cheating on you and wondering when he changed into such a jerk when he used to be so sweet and innocent. Then it was realizing all the signs were there and you were too stupid to see them.

A voice, probably prompting him to introduce himself and begin, broke him out of the vortex of self-hatred a single smile had trapped him in. He tried to collect his thoughts, to remember the slightly intimidating speech he was going to use to scare them away from him. He tried to pretend he wasn't seeing any trace of anyone in the blond, blue-eyed boy sitting there. He managed to restrain himself from going over and punching the traces of Andy out of the surely innocent boy, kissing him, or crying all over him.

_Breathe. Calm down. Breathe. That isn't Andy, even if they have the same smile._

He took a deep, shuddering breath, grasping onto the first line of what he was going to say. He began, grateful that his voice was steady and hoping the rest of the words would come to him as he went.

"My name is Ciarán (A/N: pronounced Keer-ahn). Spelled C-I-A-R-A-N. I'm gay but if I hear _any_ 'queer one' jokes or make fun of the fact that my name is _Gay -_lic_,_ I will not hesitate to punch someone's face in."

No reaction. _Come on, it was something about not wanting friends, remember? And then about singing and expecting them to like it, but not you, _He tried to tell himself, but it didn't work.

The words wouldn't come. They were erased by those blue eyes, sometimes fading into memories of Andy's green ones. He was filled up with a thousand conflicting emotions that welled over and poured out in his tender voice.

_**You whisper that you were getting tired**_

_**Got a look in your eye looks a lot like goodbye**_

_**Hold on to your secrets tonight**_

_**Don't want to know, I'm okay with this silence**_

_**It's truth that I don't want to end**_

_**You're hiding regret in your smile**_

_**There's a storm in your eyes I've seen coming for a while**_

_**Hang onto the past tense tonight**_

_**Don't say a word I'm okay with the quiet**_

_**The truth is gonna change everything**_

_**So lie to me and tell me that it's gonna be all right**_

_**So lie to me and tell me that we'll make it through the night**_

_**I don't mind if you wait before you tear me apart**_

_**Look me in the eye and lie, lie, lie**_

_**Lie, lie, lie**_

_**I know that there's no turning back**_

_**If we put too much light on this we'll see through all the cracks**_

_**Let's stay in the dark one more night**_

_**Don't want to know I'm okay with the silence**_

_**It's truth that I don't want to end**_

_**So lie to me and tell me that it's gonna be all right**_

_**So lie to me and tell me that we'll make it through the night**_

_**I don't mind if you wait before you tear me apart**_

_**So look me in the eye and lie, lie, lie,**_

_**Don't want to believe in this ending**_

_**Let the cameras roll on keep pretending**_

_**Tomorrow's all wrong if you walk away just stay**_

_**So lie to me and tell me that it's gonna be all right**_

_**So lie to me and tell me that we'll make it through the night**_

_**I don't mind if you wait before you tear me apart**_

_**So look me in the eye and lie, lie, lie,**_

_**So lie to me and tell me that we're gonna be okay**_

_**So lie to me and tell me that we'll make it through the day**_

_**I don't mind if you wait before you tear me apart**_

_**So look me in the eye and lie, lie, lie**_

Ciarán felt the prickle of sorrowful emotion tickling the back of his throat and gathering behind his eyes, but kept himself from letting it out in any tangible form. He wasn't going to cry in front of a bunch of rich boys he had just met. He forced his feelings back and tried to return a steely glare to his eyes. The three leaders got up to congratulate him; the middle, Asian one handed him a pin.

"I'm Wesley- you can call me Wes- and I would like to formally welcome you to the Warblers. You can put that on your blazer when you get to your room," he said, gesturing at the pin. Ciarán was surprised when the authoritative boy gripped his hand firmly and placed his other hand on his shoulder to welcome him. People tended to avoid physical contact with him. Wasn't Wes afraid of catching the gay? _Obviously not,_ he thought, glancing at the friendly-looking, pale, pretty boy. Wasn't he afraid of the black clothes and glares and piercings, then?

The boy just looked at Ciarán kindly, and asked for his room number.

"113," he replied without thinking.

"Oh good, you're right next to Kurt. KURT!" The boy raised his voice, catching the attention of the pretty boy from before, "Ciarán is in the room to the left of yours! Can you take him with you, I have to meet the girlfriend!"

Girlfriend. So they weren't all gay or something like that. The Warblers were leaving, shaking his hand or patting him on the shoulder as they exited the door, not noticing his little flinches. They introduced themselves, though he had no hope in hell of remembering all the names. As Kurt left Ciarán followed, experiencing a feeling of dread precluding a rush of emotion as the Andy-esque boy came up beside them.

"Hi, I'm Kurt and this is Luce. Lucian, actually, but Luce is easier. It's nice to meet you, and if you have anything you need you can ask me. I transferred too, a few months ago, and I can answer any questions you have. If you don't mind me asking, why did you transfer?" Kurt put his hand on Ciarán's arm, noticing the small flinch, and looked as though he knew everything he was going through.

"Bullying." That was all. His parent's thought that was all and that's what they told the Dean, anyway.

"Because you're gay?"

"Yeah."

"Me too." Maybe Kurt did know want he was going through. The sideways glance toward Luce and the sigh told Ciarán that there was more to the story than he was being told. _Of course. There's always more._

They had stopped in front of a room with the numbers _113 _printed on it in a flowing script. Luce waved goodbye and walked down the hall to his own room.

"So my room is right next to yours if you need anything, especially fashion advice. You are allowed to wear normal clothes when school isn't in session, and as much as I admire black as an elegant color, your wardrobe leaves something to be desired. You can come anytime- except later tonight," Kurt leaned in close with a mischievous grin on his face and whispered, "I have a _date_."

Ciarán was really starting to like this boy, despite his promise to himself that he wouldn't make any friends.

"Good luck!" He said, smiling, "I guess I have to go rid myself of my makeup and piercings now."

"Smile more often, it's cute. Also you don't have to stop wearing makeup; it's not against the rules and it makes your eyes pop wonderfully. You don't even have to take out the piercings, though it might help you fit in. There's no real rule against them either, and Luce _really_ likes them. I can tell," Kurt informed him as he was walking towards his room. He opened the door and went inside as Ciarán did the same.

He sunk against the door when he closed it. It really only took a few words to send him over the edge and drown him in bittersweet memories.

"_He _really_ likes your piercings," another freshman in his new improv club said, gesturing to the shy, blushing boy behind him. Bright green eyes looked out of an angelic face and Ciarán felt his face warm and his heart beat faster. He was instantly smitten._

_The scene changed._

_A low growl came from Andy who was sitting on Ciarán's lap as their tongues roamed each others' mouths. Ciarán moaned as Andy gripped his snakebite between his teeth. There was something in the way that he sucked and pulled on it that was unbelievably exhilarating. Ciarán felt his body heating up, and Andy pressed closer to him, whispering in his ear._

"_I _love_ your piercings."The boy murmured, and then nipped at the earring there before pressing his lips tight against Ciarán's._

_Another shift._

"_I don't care; I only went out with you because I thought all those piercings were hot anyway. I already have someone else to replace you. Several others, actually, and they've been replacing you for a while. One of them has a nipple ring."_

Ciarán felt the tears rolling down his cheeks as he was thrown out of the hateful barrage of memories. He liked to cry on his own; people were unreliable. He didn't understand why his feet made him get up and took him towards the room next to his, they just did.

* * *

Kurt was laying his outfit out on the bed when he heard the knock. He opened the door and a bawling Ciarán rushed in and buried his face in Kurt's shoulder, making Kurt glad he hadn't changed yet and that the blazer was dark enough to conceal running eyeliner. He gazed wistfully at the outfit lying on his bed, knowing this would take even more time off his preparation. What was he, a magnet for gay boys?

_No, a magnet for crying gay boys. Not nearly as fun, _he thought as he cradled Ciarán's head close. The facts were that two of the three other gay guys he knew had ended up crying on his shoulder at some point, and he was beginning to see an unsettling pattern. He hoped this didn't continue in the future.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, wondering if Ciarán would even tell him.

"Everything. Well, mostly Luce."

Kurt froze. He didn't know how to deal with it if his new adopted mentee had complaints about one of his best friends. He waited on baited breath for Ciarán to continue.

"His smile, his hair, everything about him reminds me of my _bastard _ex-boyfriend. And now everything else is too; I can't stand remembering how he broke up with me."

"So the song earlier?"

"Yeah."

"Just forget it. It'll be ok," He said, hoping it would be. He didn't have experience with this kind of thing.

Kurt sighed inwardly; he was in for a long rest of the school year. Ciarán probably couldn't go near Luce without crying and, as far as Kurt could tell, Luce had fallen hard and fast for Ciarán. He just resigned himself to his fate and rubbed Ciarán's back comfortingly.


	20. Sparks Fly

**I think I sorta kinda got the hang of the fluffiness in this chapter, so hopefully that won't dissapoint. I added some more jealous!Blaine for those of you who like that. I also made him into one of those over-the-top cheesy romantic types of guys that you love to death anyway. For anyone that has ever left me a review on any of my stories: I love you. You have no idea how awesome they make me feel (well, if you have written anything and gotten reviews you may have experienced a similar elation) and I just wanted to say thank you.**

**Please keep reviewing, it means a lot to me.**

**Enjoy :)**

When he was finally allowed to get up again, when Ciarán stopped bawling and clutching at him, Kurt rose gracefully and pulled Ciarán to his feet as well. Ciarán was all apologies; the front he attempted to put on in front of the others had completely disappeared.

"I-I don't know what made me do it! I can't believe I just poured out my emotions to a complete stranger! I'm so sorry I forced you to deal with me; it'll never happen again. I'm sorr-" Kurt cut him off with a finger on his lips.

"I'm not a stranger; I'm your friend. Or at least I will be. I like you, you know. And friends listen to each other's problems. It's part of the job description, right?"

"I didn't have friends like that. I always pretended to be happy all the time. The only one I actually told anything to was Andy-" Ciarán started choking up again and Kurt put his hand on Ciarán's arm to steady and comfort him. He prayed to the god he didn't believe in that he wouldn't start crying again.

"I used to be like that too. I kept all my emotions to myself and pretended I was fine. It took moving here and some… things before that to make me realize I could trust my friends with anything."

Ciarán brightened and hugged Kurt tightly, saying, "Thank you so much! For some reason I feel a lot better now."

"Crying usually does that," Kurt said. He knew from a lot of experience. He hugged Ciarán back, moving him slowly to the door at the same time.

"Bye. If you ever have a problem, anything, just come and talk to me, okay?"

""Okay!" Ciarán left, sounding downright cheery; a big difference from the way he had entered. Kurt sank down on the bed and sighed. _Why do things have to be so complicated?_

He glanced at the clock and then shot straight up. 5:15. He only had 45 minutes to get ready for his date with Blaine. He set off to take the shortest shower he had ever taken in his life.

* * *

Blaine was walking down the hall to his room, filled with anticipation, when he heard two Warblers talking in low, intense whispers.

"…said that he was sorry for pouring emotions onto Kurt," Blaine was startled by his boyfriends' name, "Then Kurt said that he would be Ciarán's boyfriend."

"What? I thought Kurt and Blaine were-"

"Me too! Maybe Kurt is two-timing Blaine. Or three-timing; I always thought he and Luce were suspi-" Jeff stopped, suddenly noticing Blaine's presence.

"What were you just saying?" Blaine asked, startled by the maliciousness of his own voice.

Jeff shot a "save me" glance at Charlie, the one he was talking to, searching his eyes for the proper way to handle the current situation. Charlie simply nodded, gesturing for Jeff to tell Blaine the truth.

"Uhmmm…" Jeff's nervousness was obvious, "Nick and I were going to visit the new kid. You know. See what classes he has, advise him on what to study and so on, but he wasn't there. We started walking back to our room but we heard voices coming from Kurt's room. One of them sounded like Ciarán's, so I sort of… pressed my ear against the door to listen in," he explained, shaking as though he was admitting to murder.

"So you were eavesdropping. Go on," Blaine pressed.

"It was really quiet and muffled so I can't be sure, but I think I heard Ciarán apologizing- profusely- for pouring his feelings out to Kurt. Then Kurt, well, Kurt said…. ThatheisCiarán'sboyfriendorwillbe. And that he… l-likes him."

Blaine didn't know why it would make him so upset; he didn't believe it. He lashed out with anger. "Kurt isn't the type of person to do something like that!"

He stomped off to his room. Even though he denied it, the seed of doubt wedged in his mind as he changed for the date ha wasn't so excited for anymore.

* * *

Kurt was just putting the finishing touches on his hair when he heard a soft knock at the door. He checked himself out in the mirror, just to be positive he looked as amazing as possible. He tried his hardest not to run to the door, throw it open, and leap into Blaine's arms.

He opened the door, beaming, at an admirably slow pace. Blaine's eyes were worrisomely clouded- until they took in what Kurt was wearing.

Kurt enjoyed watching Blaine look him slowly up and down then realize what he was doing. A blush lightly colored his cheeks.

Kurt was admiring Blaine as well, just in a slightly more discreet manner. Blaine had donned black slacks, well-fitted enough to be noticed were Kurt's eyes not raking over other parts of the outfit. And what was underneath them.

Blaine's thin, long-sleeved, dark turquoise shirt hugged his muscles tightly, and it was partially covered by an open tan coat with black buttons. The whole combination was impeccable as well as mouthwatering and made the green in Blaine's hazel eyes much more prominent.

Blaine still looked embarrassed, so Kurt decided to break the awkward silence. "So, boyfriend, I don't know where we are going but we should probably attempt to get there," he suggested playfully, relishing the roll of the word off his lips, and took Blaine's hand. Boyfriend.

Kurt's expression brightened at that word, but Blaine's face fell as he heard it. He looked as though he hated it. Or hated being called that by Kurt. Kurt felt a flutter of panic inside, _Wasn't Blaine the one who suggested we call each other that in the first place? Was he just humoring me?_

Kurt's stomach tumbled over itself as he tried to determine the expression's meaning. Blaine simply replied with a mutter of an emotionless "right" before pulling Kurt down the hallway with their still-intertwined hands.

He opened the car door for Kurt before moving around to seat himself heavily in the driver's side. Kurt made to talk, but before he could say anything Blaine turned the keys and pressed one of the many knobs on his dashboard. The radio came on full blast, effectively silencing any chance of conversation. Blaine wore a sullen expression and stared straight ahead, hands gripping the wheel tightly enough to turn his knuckles white.

* * *

Blaine didn't know why he was ignoring Kurt or why looking at him filled him with a strange mixture of anger and longing. Yes he did, he admitted to himself; it was that some part of him believed the rumor. Some part of him was angry at Kurt for cheating on him and for leading Ciarán on. Some part of him was roaring with jealousy. He just didn't know why he couldn't push it to the back of his mind and ignore it, when it probably wasn't true anyway. It was that probably part that got to him.

He decided to try to ignore it, to talk to Kurt normally and have fun and banish all other thought from his mind, but he couldn't. He opened his mouth a centimeter and closed it. He flicked a sidelong glance at Kurt before swiftly returning his gaze forward. His hand twitched towards the volume dial for the radio, but didn't move towards it. His mind and emotions were staging a fierce battle inside his head that left him unable to do anything.

Luckily or not, Kurt seemed to have been struck by the same inclination and was free to act upon it. "Boys, Boys, Boys" faded into the softest of background music as Kurt turned to address Blaine.

"What's wrong?" Kurt demanded to know in a slightly annoyed, authoritative tone. Blaine wanted to tell him and call him out, but he was afraid. He was terrified Kurt would see him for the petty, jealous person he really was and respond with anger to the false accusations. He was even more afraid of that little nagging voice in the back of his head being right though. In his heart he knew he would much rather lose Kurt because of something he did than have his perception of Kurt change so drastically in his mind. Both thoughts stung him, though, and his mind wouldn't allow him to say it.

"Nothing," he lied, hoping his voice didn't sound as false to Kurt as it did echoing in his own ears.

"Blaine, you haven't looked at me at all since you picked me up. We are in a relationship now and I would appreciate some knowledge of what I or someone else did to make you angry!" Kurt's acidic tongue seemed to stab Blaine right in the heart, but he still didn't want to risk saying anything.

"Honestly, it's nothing. I'm fine," He insisted, turning his head to stare Kurt in the eyes. When he met those clear blue-green-gray orbs with his own hazel ones, something inside him snapped.

"So how's Ciarán?" He couldn't resist asking. Inside he was cursing himself into some type of void where he could bury himself and not exist. He cursed the fact that even when Kurt had confessed, crying and thinking he had no hope, he still couldn't make himself trust Kurt's words. He cursed that Kurt managed to hit all the chinks in his armor just by existing. He cursed that he, who used to be able to deal with anything, didn't even have enough control to stop one comment from coming out. He cursed the malicious way his words twisted up at the end, making sure Kurt knew it wasn't just an innocent question.

Remarkably, Kurt didn't appear to feel the accusation in Blaine's voice, though he could feel something wrong about it, and just answered.

"Ciarán is really sweet, not at all like he looks. I think we're going to be really close; I like him a lot."

"Of course you like him. More than me? Do you want to go out with him?" Blaine inquired bitterly. _Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP! _He kept telling himself not to let those thoughts escape the confines of his mind, but they slipped out like water through a grate and poured from his lips too easily.

"Are you implying that Ciarán and I have _feelings _for each other? That there's some kind of relationship between us? We're just frie-" Kurt responded in a highly affronted tone.

"Then why the hell were you two in your room with the door shut and why was he _apologizing_?"

"BECAUSE HE WAS _CRYING, _BLAINE! What was I supposed to do, leave him alone in the hall? And he was _apologizing_ for burdening me with his emotions and tears. Honestly!"

Blaine felt a knot deep inside him loosen and fade away. His voice was softer when he next spoke, "Why was he crying?"

"It's not something I think he'd want other people to know about. I don't want to betray his trust," Kurt said, seemingly derailed by the change in tone. He regained his indignation a few seconds later, though. "And I can't believe you would even _think_ I would have something going on with someone else! What kind of a person do you think I am?"

"Well, Jeff was listening and he misheard a few things…" Blaine tried to explain himself, knowing full well that he could not.

"So you just listened to someone's rumor instead of believing in your boyfriend," Kurt looked extremely hurt and Blaine felt himself washing away on waves of guilt, "What really bothers me, though, Is that you didn't even bother to ask. You just assumed it was true. You don't trust me at all."

"I do, it's just…." Blaine pressed his head against the steering wheel in frustration.

"What? What is it just?"

"I get really jealous, okay? I can't understand why you would possibly love me, so I start to doubt myself. It was bad before, but now that I actually have you it just makes the possibility of leaving you that much worse. I can't help it; I just love you so much."

Kurt's face softened at the words though Blaine felt they hadn't been nearly enough, and he felt Kurt's hand brush over his.

"I love you, too. Let's have fun on the date, ok? Where are you taking me?" Kurt said with excitement in his voice; as though the anger never existed and it was still his perfect first date. Blaine loved him even more for it.

"You'll see that when we get there. Until then you just have to speculate, ok?" He smiled and turned up the music, though not as high as it had been, and they alternated between chatting and singing loudly along with the radio as they drove to wherever they were going.

_**I miss the sound of your voice**_

_**I miss the rush of your skin**_

_**I miss the still of the silence**_

_**As you breathe out and I breathe in**_

_**If I could walk on water**_

_**If i could tell you what's next**_

_**Make you believe**_

_**Make you forget**_

_**Come on get higher**_

_**Loosen my lips**_

_**Faith and desire**_

_**And the swing of your hips**_

_**Just pull me down hard**_

_**And drown me in love**_

_**Come on get higher**_

_**Loosen my lips**_

_**Faith and desire**_

_**And the swing of your hips**_

_**Just pull me down hard**_

_**And drown me in love**_

_**I miss the sound of your voice**_

_**The loudest thing in my head**_

_**And I ache to remember**_

_**All the violent, sweet, perfect words that you said**_

_**If I could walk on water**_

_**If I could tell you what's next**_

_**Make you believe**_

_**Make you forget**_

_**Come on get higher**_

_**Loosen my lips**_

_**Faith and desire**_

_**And the swing of your hips**_

_**Just pull me down hard**_

_**And drown me in love**_

_**Come on get higher**_

_**Loosen my lips**_

_**Faith and desire**_

_**And the swing of your hips**_

_**Just pull me down hard**_

_**And drown me in love**_

_**I miss the pull of your heart**_

_**I taste the sparks on your tongue**_

_**I see angels and devils and god when you come on**_

_**Hold on**_

_**Hold on, hold on, hold on...**_

_**(sing shaa la la la laa**_

_**Ouuu)**_

_**Come on get higher**_

_**Loosen my lips**_

_**Faith and desire**_

_**And the swing of your hips**_

_**Just pull me down hard**_

_**And drown me in love**_

_**Come on get higher**_

_**Loosen my lips**_

_**Faith and desire**_

_**And the swing of your hips**_

_**Just pull me down hard**_

_**And drown me**_

_**Drown me in love**_

_**It's all wrong**_

_**It's all wrong**_

_**It's all wrong, its so right**_

_**Come on get higher**_

_**Come on and get higher**_

_**Because everything works love**_

**_Everything works in your arms_**

_**

* * *

**_"My- Myken- How the hell do you pronounce that?" Kurt inquired as they pulled up in front of a nice-looking restaurant.

"Mykonos Taverna. It's Greek and the food is _amazing." _Blaine explained after he opened Kurt's door for him. He wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist, and it struck Kurt that he was about to go in to a restaurant with his boyfriend. A people- filled restaurant. He felt a thrill of fear which he stifled immediately. He was going to a restaurant with his _boyfriend._

The waitress didn't even spare a second glance at then as they walked in, Blaine's hand still pressed against Kurt's hip. She just asked cheerily, "Where would you like to sit?"

"Somewhere cozy," Blaine suggested in a deep voice, right by Kurt's ear. He shuddered in happiness.

"Right away," She said as she walked, or rather bounced, towards a two-person table snugly tucked into a corner of the restaurant. She handed each of them a menu and said that she would be back shortly to see what they wanted to drink. The table wasn't close enough to be cramped but was close enough for Blaine's knee to brush unintentionally against Kurt's. _Perhaps not so unintentionally, _Kurt thought, as it happened again and a third time, staying in contact and letting Kurt feel the warmth of Blaine's skin.

Suddenly the contact was broken as Blaine leaned in to whisper in Kurt's ear with the same deep tone he used before.

"I was distracted from telling you this earlier, but you the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life."

"Luce gave me the sweater and-"

"No not the sweater, you yourself. Wearing anything."

"Th-thanks," was all Kurt managed to stammer out, his heart beating rapidly. Flushed and giddy, he turned his head downward to look at the menu. He paled when he opened it.

"Blaine, this is-"

"Oh calm down, I got it covered. Besides, it's not _that _expensive."

Kurt wanted to retort that it certainly _was_ that expensive, but all he ended up saying was, "Blaine, you don't have to-"

"I know, but I want to. And believe me that the food is totally worth it. You'll see."

Kurt resigned to his not-at-all-horrible fate and set to trying to decipher the menu. Eventually he just gave up and asked Blaine, "Any suggestions?"

"Sure. I think you'd really enjoy the Yuvetsi- it's this rice pasta dish that's absolutely wonderful, and…"

"You come here a lot, don't you?"

"Maybe…" Kurt laughed at Blaine's response but considered the suggestion.

"Fine, I'll try it. If it's not good enough for Zeus himself there will be hell to pay. You will be the one paying it."

"I assure you, Zeus, Hera, and all the other Greek gods would have approved of anything on the menu here."

"If you say so. Greek gods were horribly unfaithful, but they did have rather good taste," Kurt said, still examining the menu though he had already decided. Blaine looked at him questioningly, and Kurt saw that he needed to explain.

"They, Apollo in particular, had an affinity for beautiful young boys."

"Such as yourself?" Blaine queried with a teasing lilt in his tone.

"Only if you are the Greek god who falls hopelessly in love with me," Kurt responded quietly, noting the waitress coming over to check on them.

Blaine didn't seem to care- he said, quite loudly, "I don't need to be a god to do that; I've been hopelessly in love with you since the moment you tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what was going on. I couldn't help but grab your hand. I took you down that shortcut just as an excuse to justify it."

The chipper waitress awwwed, tutted, and commented on just how adorable Kurt and Blaine were together before asking what they would like to drink and eat. She scurried off with their orders.

"That was a first," Kurt commented, a little red from the compliment as he stared absently after the waitress.

"You've never had someone to look cute together with before, so that isn't surprising," Blaine reasoned.

"I was talking about the adorable comment, actually," Kurt said. It took Blaine a minute to comprehend the statement. His face showed what could only be shock.

"Wait- are you honestly telling me you've never been called adorable before?"

"Well I have by my friends, sometimes, and my mom used to say it back when she was alive, but my dad was never the type. And by a stranger? No way. Most people tend to avoid me because, to put it in the charming words spoken by Puck the other day, I'm 'flaming enough to cook s'mores on.'"

Blaine laughed a little and leaned over to press his soft lips against Kurt's cheek. "Well, you're adorable. Expect to hear it at least once a day, at any time and place, from now until forever."

Kurt, who seemed to be spending the majority of the evening blushing, felt his face turning red once again. "Only if I'm allowed to make up embarrassing pet names for you and call you them-"

"Sounds like an okay deal to me!"

"-in the dining hall."

Blaine had to stop and reconsider; being called pet names was one thing but knowing they were being spread around the whole school was another entirely. He thought of a compromise.

"We can call each other anything we want… but only in private. If one of us calls the other something in public then the other has the right to one embarrassing name, also in public, at the location of his choosing."

"Agreed," Kurt said as the food arrived, living up to Blaine's praise of it. It was indeed fit for the gods; he wondered if he'd ever tasted something so delicious before. He fell into one of the easy conversations he always had with Blaine and before he knew it, the meal was over. He had been planning to leave some food on his plate, but ended up eating all of it and craving more.

"You were so right about this place," he said to Blaine who had also cleared his plate of Soutzoukakia.

"I'm glad you liked it," Blaine replied with a goofy grin spread across his cheeks. The waitress came to check on them again.

"Can I interest you boys in some dessert?" she giggled as she bounced back and forth on her heels, practically bursting with happiness. Blaine looked questioningly at Kurt, who said, "Sure, pick something for me."

Blaine turned back towards the waitress. "Mint tartufo and…" he studied Kurt intently, "crème brulèe ice cream for him, thank you."

Kurt felt a smile spreading across his face as Blaine ordered exactly what he would have picked. It was a little known fact that his favorite dessert was crème brulèe. He liked to say it was something simple, since most of the kids at McKinley probably didn't even know what a crème brulèe was.

When the two desserts came, Kurt bit into the ice cream immediately. "Mmmmm… delicious."

Blaine was braking through the chocolate shell of his equally tempting tartufo with relish. He noticed Kurt looking and held out a loaded fork, asking, "Want a bite?"

Kurt took Blaine's hand and brought the fork up to his mouth before offering his ice cream to him. Blaine licked it before handing it back.

"Even better than I remember. Maybe your being here just makes everything sweeter."

Kurt was astounded Blaine could say something like that with a straight face, but as he went back to eating he thought the ice cream tasted just a little better than it had before.

* * *

"And now for the next stop," Blaine began saying as he and Kurt walked out to the car. Kurt shivered a little and Blaine put his own coat over Kurt's shoulders.

"Were going somewhere else?" Kurt asked, sure the surprise was showing on his face.

"Of course, though I won't tell you where. That would ruin the fun. I will tell you where we're not going, though." Blaine pulled open the door for Kurt.

He started the engine. "Fine, where _aren't _we going?"

"Sadly, we are _not_ going to sit on a blanket under the stars and whisper sweet nothings in each other's ears. I was all set for that, but I had on good authority that it would be cloudy today. Besides, it's too cold for outdoor activities. So, I came up with a viable alternative. Oh, that reminds me! Put this on!" He said, handing a strip of cloth to Kurt.

"Put this on _where_?" He asked, holding it up and examining it.

"Over your eyes, of course! It's a blindfold," Blaine said, making it seem like there was nothing else it could possibly be, when Kurt could honestly think of over 100.

"Oh."

Kurt put it on and dexterously tied a bow behind his head. Conversation died as the air was permeated with his anticipation. Once the car stopped and they got out, Blaine carefully led him into a building and through several brightly lit hallways before they stopped in a pitch-black room. He felt himself be pushed down gently into a seat and his head be tilted upwards, wondering what they were doing and where they were.

He felt a tug on the bow in his blindfold and as it fell away he looked up to see Blaine standing directly in front of him and his breath caught in his throat. His mind was whirring with a thousand possibilities and he felt his heartbeat speeding up, until Blaine stepped back and sat beside him, allowing him to see his surroundings.

_Stars._ They covered the ceiling of what Kurt now knew to be a vast, empty planetarium. He was dazzled for a moment, before he noticed that several stars shone brighter than the rest. He took in the words and all he could do was smile at his cheesy, ridiculously romantic boyfriend.

_I love you _

The words clearly stood out, etched in stars more dazzling then those around them. "How did you-?"

"Oh, I know a guy who knows a guy," Blaine said with a ridiculously endearing wink. Kurt was filled with something he hadn't felt before. He put his hand and ran it through Blaine's loose curls, and when it was buried deep in the ones on the back of his head, Kurt pulled Blaine closer to him and pressed their lips together.

Kurt was always an adherent of Disney princess movies so that may have biased him a little, but the only way he could describe it was like something out of a fairy-tale. It was enchanting and thrilling. It was everything a kiss should be: fireworks, passion, lightning, and an alluring pull closer to Blaine which he wasn't disinclined to follow at all. He pulled apart when his breath was running low and gasped for air. He wasn't quite sure how his hand had gotten under the front of Blaine's shirt, but his toned muscles and that little line of hair running down from his bellybutton felt amazing.

The top of their heads were pressed against each other as they both panted hard from the kiss. Kurt was strongly considering attacking Blaine's lips again, right after he caught his breath.

"So, how was that for a second kiss?" Blaine asked through his own heavy panting. Kurt nodded, wondering how Blaine knew about the kiss with Luce. Then it occurred to his lust-addled mind that Blaine was referring to that thing with Karofsky, which he wasn't even going to consider counting. Just thinking about it cooled Kurt down a little and he definitely wasn't having any of that, though the idea that Karofsky could be his mailman was hilarious. He pressed his lips against Blaine's with more fervor this time and lost himself to the electricity running through his veins.

* * *

When he got back to his room, he plopped down on his bed and screamed into his pillow with excitement. As he went through his nightly routine he was counting down the minutes until the next morning when he would see Blaine again. All he could think was that everything in the world had to be perfect right then, all previous obstacles and problems and doubts he had faced had faded away the moment his lips first met Blaine's.

* * *

"How is my adorable boyfriend today?" Blaine said loudly in the middle of the dining hall without thinking. He recognized his mistake immediately as he remembered their conversation at the restaurant last night. _Oh crap. _He hoped Kurt would save it for another time, but he was in the middle of the dining hall and even he saw a perfect opportunity.

Kurt looked at him with questioning eyes, and he gulped, knowing what was coming. Kurt came over and wrapped his arms around Blaine, planting a chaste kiss on his lips completely unlike the fiery ones they had shared last night. Kurt pulled his head back, though he kept Blaine in his arms, and spoke in what Blaine know had to be his most carrying voice.

"Fine, thank you. How are you, my dearest Blaineykins?"

Wes snorted milk out his nose and David was shaking with laughter, trying to hide it under whatever book he was currently reading. The rest of the boys in the hall were driven to varying states of helplessness by debilitating laughing fits as well. Blaine knew he was going to be called that for at least a few weeks if he was lucky, or for the rest of his high school career if he wasn't. He groaned and covered his face with one of his hands.

Kurt was smiling in amusement, looking for all the world like an angel though Blaine knew he most certainly wasn't. Angels didn't make their boyfriends the laughingstock of the entire school. He was pretty sure angels couldn't kiss that well either. No, Blaine was sure that if anything, he'd sold his soul to a beautiful devil. It didn't matter to him one bit.


End file.
